The Bauchi State House of Assembly has been enmeshed in controversy since its inauguration in June 2019. The Bauchi State House of Assembly saw the emergence of two factional Speakers from the All Progressives Congress (APC), following the inauguration of the members of the House and parallel leadership elections. While 20 out of 31 members elected Hon. Kawuwa Shehu-Damina as Speaker, 11 had elected Hon. Abubakar Ningi Suleiman as Speaker. This development resulted in an indefinite adjournment of the Assembly’s plenary by Abubakar Suleiman group while the Damina-led group was unable to hold plenary owing to a court order obtained by the Suleiman faction. The State House of Assembly however, resumed sitting on Monday, July 15 2019, led by Hon. Abubakar Suleiman, where it approved the State Governor’s request to appoint Special Advisers.
The House of Representatives constituted a 12-member committee headed by Hon. Musa Sarkin-Adar to investigate the circumstances that led to the emergence of two Speakers in the State Assembly. The committee conducted investigations between Monday, July 14 2019 and Wednesday, July 17 2019, before returning to Abuja to submit a report on its findings. Accusing the House of Representatives committee of taking sides in the matter, the Hon. Suleiman-led faction proceeded to a High Court in Bauchi State and obtained an order on Monday, July 22 2019, restraining the National Assembly from wading into the leadership crisis in the State’s legislature, pending the determination of a case being heard by the court on the subject matter. At this time, the committee was slated to its interim submit its report on Tuesday, July 23 2019. The National Assembly is yet to take a decision on the matter.