EX-LAWMAKER ACCUSES YUGUDA OF SIGNING FORGED BILL

BY SUZAN EDEH
Bauchi-former member of the Bauchi State House of Assembly, Aminu Tukur yesterday said the bill for the creation of new districts and villages in the state which was signed into law by Governor Isa Yuguda was forged.

Tukur also faulted the manner under which the Clerk of State House of Assembly and other members allegedly cajoled Governor Yuguda into signing an altered bill in respect of creation of more districts and villages in the state into law.

Tukur who served as member of the House Committee on the creation of Sayawa chiefdom, Districts and Village areas during the Sixth Legislative Assembly said he was compelled to raise an alarm over the issue because of the implications to the peace and stablility  of the state.

While speaking to newsmen, Tukur said: 'As somebody who was a member of the committee that designed and presented the two bills before the House, I feel embarrassed by the way the Clerk of the House sent the bill to the Government.

''What was passed by the House was not even what was sent to the government and what the governor assented to was also not what the clerk sent to the government', Tukur said, allegeding further that some mischievous persons altered the bills for their own selfish ends.

According to him, what Yuguda signed into law was ''completely a forged'' document.

The former lawmaker noted that alterations in the bill started right from the House of Assembly up till the Government House, describing the situation ''as a shame on the democratic process''.

On his reactions when he first noticed the alterations, Tukur said, ''when I saw the forged document, I called the ex-Speaker who is presently a commissioner on the telephone and asked him if he had seen the bill and ex-Speaker replied that he was ashamed with what he saw'.

Among the areas which he said were illegally altered in the said controversial bill, included the provisions for educational qualification as one of the criteria for appointment of Districts Heads as well as some newly created villages and addition of six village areas.

The six additional villages, he also said included  Sabon Gida, Badakoshi, Mburwat,Garam, Mbam and Murno in Bula district of Tafawa Balewa Local government area just as the Gital village was carved out from Bula and merged with Bununu district.

'Members of the Bauchi State House of Assembly are representatives of the people, the Governor himself is a representative of the people and whatever the Governor sends to the State House of Assembly and is approved by the House has become a binding document on the people of the state. ''I have already started putting my papers together and I will send my submissions to the State House of Assembly to call the attention of the Speaker to know that what was taken to the Governor to sign was fictitious; it was not what we did.

'What was taken to the governor was completely a different version of what we passed in the State House of Assembly during our last sitting on the 12th of June, 2011,' he added.