Babayo Akuyam has been chosen as the new Speaker of the Bauchi State House of Assembly.
He is the state representative for the Hardawa Constituency in the Misau Local Government Area.
Ahmed Abdullahi, a representative for Dass Constituency in Dass LGA, was also chosen by the House to serve as Deputy Speaker.
This occurs just five days after the former Speaker, Abubakar Suleiman, was removed from his position as the member representing the Ningi Central Constituency by the Appeal Court in Abuja.
Suleiman, who is a member of the Peoples Democratic Party and the immediate past Chairman of the Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria, was proclaimed the winner of the Ningi Central Constituency election on March 18. He defeated Khalid Abdulmalik-Ningi of the All Progressives Congress, who received 15, 065 votes, with 16, 866 votes.
Abdulmalik-Ningi filed a petition with the state’s Governorship and State Assembly Election Petition Tribunal after he was dissatisfied with the results of the election as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission. However, the tribunal rejected his petition and upheld Suleiman’s election to a second term in office.
Also not satisfied with the judgment, the APC candidate went to the Court of Appeal to challenge the tribunal’s ruling and in its judgment on Friday, the appellate court’s three-man panel set aside the judgment of the tribunal and ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to conduct a rerun in 10 polling units.
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Barely three days after the sack of Suleiman, the court also sacked his deputy, Jamilu Barade, a member of the PDP, from his position as the member representing Bauchi Central Constituency, and also ordered a rerun in some polling units.
Aliyu Ilela, the APC candidate, was not pleased with the tribunal’s decision either. He appealed to the higher court, which heard his case and declared the election void due to purported excessive voting. Additionally, the court mandated a rerun in a few polling places.
However, the House chose Akuyam as Speaker and Abdullahi as Deputy Speaker during its plenary session on Wednesday without facing any opposition.
The member representing Burra Tanko Ibrahim seconded the nomination of Auwal Hassan, the representative of Shira Constituency, and the new Speaker was elected.
Umar Gital, the Clerk of the House, administered the oath of office to the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker.
Later, the Speaker was escorted to his seat.
In his acceptance speech, Akuyam thanked God for his emergence as the Speaker and assured the people of the state that his doors will always remain open for positive advice and commended his colleagues for their belief that he can deliver.
He stated that the House would take all necessary steps to ensure the State’s overall development in accordance with the ideology of the current administration.
On Thursday, the Assembly will hear the State Governor Bala Mohammed’s proposal for the 2024 state budget.
