Bauchi State House of Assembly passes law reversing previous act enabling it to recover looted funds

MEMBERS of the Bauchi State House of Assembly have passed a bill to repeal the State Public Property and Funds Recovery Tribunal Act of 2017 that was enacted to recover funds thought to have been misappropriated by previous governors.

In 2017, this same Bauchi House of Assembly passed a law that would enable it to recover funds thought to have been illegally acquired by past governors. However, with Governor Mohammed Abubakar now on his way out having lost the March gubernatorial elections, lawmakers have repealed the act, meaning the governor will not be tried under it if he signs it into law.

Yesterday, a motion promoting the bill was moved by deputy majority leader Hon Abdullahi Abdulkadir representing Bura Constituency. It was seconded by Sale Nabayi representing Ganjuwa West and Constituency respectively and passed through its third reading without objections from any of the 13 members seated out of 31 members of the House.

Speaker, Hon Kawuwa Damina, appealed to Governor Abubakar to sign the bill into law. However, Hon Aminu Tukur, the member representing Lere/Bula Constituency, said the bill was passed with an ulterior motive best known to the speaker.

He added: “It’s unfortunate that 13 members out of 31 members were called secretly to converge in the house out of the usual time which is 10am but the sitting commenced 9 am today. I got to know being a regular person that falls among the first three that comes to the House.”

Hon Tukur alleged that the13 members were cronies of the outgoing governor who were dancing to his tune. He said they had other plans by conveying earlier than the normal time when plenary holds.

“The law was put in place to serve as deterrence to whosoever misappropriated the funds of the citizens but since the governor failed to secure his second term in office he decided to connive with his cronies to assemble in the house by 9am instead of 10 am to repeal the bill. A second bill which has to do with the creation of additional districts, villages and hamlets was also smuggled in by his cronies in the House and had passed the first, second and third reading to become law without the consent of the remaining 18 members of the House."