Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed is yet to name new commissioners two months after dissolving the state executive council.
Mohammed had on June 9 dissolved his cabinet including the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), the Chief of Staff (COS) Government House and Special Advisers.
Dateline Nigeria reports State Executive Councils, usually headed by the governor as chairman is responsible for governance and implementation of programmes of government as appropriated for by the Legislature.
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Section 192(1) of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria provides for the appointment of State Commissioners to assist the governor in the discharge of his functions.
The councils, which usually meet weekly, examine and approve key issues of fiscal governance such as approval of contracts and others. There are certain actions the governor cannot perform without an executive council in place.
Explaining his reason for dissolving the council during a Democracy Day event in Zaki town, Governor Bala Mohammed said he sacked his cabinet because he needed ‘real politicians’ he could work with to develop the state.
“Those that I stopped, they don’t know how to play politics and I cannot work with those type of people. I just have to get others, real politicians that can do the job together with me and bring Bauchi out of a quagmire,” he had said.
A member of the dissolved cabinet and Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Dr Aminu Gamawa has since been appointed as the new Chief of Staff in place of Ladan Salihu.
Dateline Nigeria reports that when Mohammed dissolved the cabinet, there were rumours that he did so preparatory to dumping the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), like his Zamfara counterpart Bello Mohammed Matawalle did.
The governor’s media aide, Mukhtar Gidado, could not be reached for comment.
But Dateline Nigerian learnt that the governor, as of August 10, 2021, is yet to submit names of commissioner-nominees to the Bauchi State House of Assembly.
