Bauchi State House of Assembly passes vote of no confidence in education commissioner

MEMBERS of the Bauchi State House of Assembly have passed a vote of no confidence in the education commissioner Dr Aliyu Tilde for treating them with disdain when he was summoned to come and defend his budget submissions.

Earlier in the week, legislators had summoned the commissioner to come and defend his 2022 budget proposals. Apparently, apart from arriving about an hour late, Dr Tilde was then disrespectful to the lawmakers, asking them who they were to be questioning him so vigorously.

In response, Hon Mohammed Akuyam, the chairman of the House Committee on Education, moved a motion of no confidence at an emergency session yesterday. Hon Akuyam described the attitude of the commissioner to as unfortunate and disrespectful to the House.

He added: “The House committee served the ministry of education with a scheduled date for budget defence on November 24, asking the commissioner to appear before the committee on the December 2. Despite that the commissioner coming an hour late to attend the budget defence, which did not go down well with the committee, he then began to ask who we were?

“Legislators belong to the three arms of government, made up of the executive, legislature and the judiciary. So for him to ask us who we are is an insult to the ninth assembly.”

Hon Yunusa Ahmed described the commissioner’s conduct as unbecoming, adding that it speaks volumes of the fact that he runs the ministry alone. Similarly, Hon Abubakar Sulaiman, the speaker of the Bauchi State House of Assembly, said the commissioner’s behaviour to the committee was unfortunate and not acceptable.

He explained that the House unanimously agreed that a vote of no confidence should be passed on the commissioner of education. He added that the House also agreed to withdraw the earlier confirmation of Dr Tilde as the state commissioner for education.

Sani Bura, the special adviser on liaison assembly matters to Governor Bala Mohammad, said that the House has done its part and it is the prerogative of the governor to take decisions. He added that he would relate what transpired to the governor who would decide on what the next line of action on the issue would be.

Last week Friday, the committee on education walked out the commissioner from the budget defence proceedings for what it described as his disrespectful attitude. Now, the lawmakers said they will continue with the budget defence by asking the permanent secretary in the ministry to now answer questions.