By Tina Akannam

THE Seventh Jigawa State House of Assembly consists of 30 members and 29 of them were elected on the plank of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) won the remaining seat (Hadejia constituency).

Only 17 old members including all key office holders were returned while 13 new members including a former commissioner for Information made their way into the House.

Interestingly, all key office holders in the Sixth House got re-elected except the deputy chief whip and minority leader. However, Vanguard gathered that the House did not concede the minority leader position to the only ANPP member in the House because it is unconstitutional.
According to the spokesman of the House, Alhaji Babagida Usman, unless opposition members in the House form a quorum, the seat of minority leader cannot be given to a single opposition member in Jigawa State House of Assembly.

Prominent members of the House
Prominent members of the House include the Speaker, Alhaji Adamu Ahmed Atamos representing Kafin Hausa constituency. He was elected to lead the House on June 1, 2007 and was re_elected by members to continue as speaker because of  way he managed the affairs of the House since 2007. His deputy, Alhaji Inuwa Sule Udi from Ringim constituency also retained his position.

Other vocal members of the House who maintained their key positions include the Majority Leader, Alhaji Adamu Jafar Kukuma representing Buji constituency; Alhaji Ibrahim Suleiman representing Gwiwa constituency; Alhaji Yahaya Mohammed representing Suletankarkar constituency; and the Deputy Chief Whip, Alhaji Halalu Bako Uza, who is new was elected as deputy chief whip because of his political antecedents.

The rest are Alhaji Isa Adamu Matara representing Kiri_Kasamma constituency; Alhaji Nasiru Mohammed Suparo (Gagarawa constituency); Alhaji Isyaku Isa Maruta (Gwaram constituency); Alhaji Adamu Shuaibu Jigawa Tsada (Dutse constituency) and the former Commissioner of Information, Alhaji Aminu Mohammed representing Gumel constituency.

Relationship with the executive
The Sixth Assembly and the executive arm of the government had a very cordial relationship, which is probably unconnected with the level of attention the lawmakers received from the Governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido.

Apart from the rapport between the speaker and the governor, the state government has  renovated the state House of Assembly and constructed a multi million naira residential houses for both the speaker and his deputy. As of now, the residence of both speaker and his deputy have been completed long ago, the new official residence of the governor and his deputy are still under construction. The reason, according to a source, is Governor Lamido’s decision to ensure that the lawmakers operate in a conducive atmosphere that will enable them deliberate diligently.

Perhaps, that is why the speaker had always ensured that matters brought before the House are attended to without delay. Speaker Adamu had always ensured that such matters are attended to speedily.  He had always described the Governor Lamido-led administration as the messiah of the state because the development recorded in the state had surpassed the ones recorded by the previous administration that stayed in power for eight years.

The members had adopted the policies of the PDP-led government under governor Lamido. Any proposal brought before the House, even budgets are presented before the House, including  budget are not delayed unnecessarily and whatever amendments made by the House are usually accepted in good faith.

Governor Lamido declared during the presentation of the 2011 appropriation bill to the House:  “As ever, I am confident that your guiding principles would continue to be that same dedication and forthrightness with which you have always approached the business of legislation.

I also remain confident of your determination to constructively engage with the executive arm in our effort to bequeath a legacy we would all be proud of.”

In his acceptance speech, this year when he was re_elected by members, speaker Ahmed assured that the Seventh Assembly intended to continue to work harmoniously with the executive arm of government, in spite of criticism by the opposition that the House was an appendage of the executive because of the way they have been relating since 2007.

He said the House would continue to support the executive arm to ensure that it achieved all its set objectives in the state.
The Chief Whip, Alhaji Ibrahim Sulieman said it was erroneous to say that Jigawa legislature was a rubber stamp because of the good understanding it enjoyed with the executive arm of government.

According to him, it was a PDP affair because “we are all mindful of what we inherited from the past administration”, adding that they could not afford to engage on dirty politics by exercising their legislative power to the detriment of the people of the state. ‘We were elected by Jigawa people so we are obliged to serve them judiciously.”

Tasks before the House

Honourable Isa Adamu Matara (Kiri_Kasamma constituency), said the House was poised to achieve two major things within  the next four years. He noted that though much had been recorded within the past four years under the present administration in the educational sector, which he said was in a sorry state when they took over government in 2007,  the House intended to ensure that education sector regained  its lost glory in the state. This is to make students in the state compete favourably with students from other parts of the country.

Secondly,  he said the House would pay attention to youths in Jigawa State. According to him, the House would be involved in any project that would advance the cause of the youths.

Constituency projects
Interestingly, in Jigawa state the legislative arm of government is not involved in execution of constituency projects.  Members of the Sixth Assembly were able to influence a number of projects to their various constituencies, which were subsequently executed by the executive arm of government without their involvement.

Alhaji Isa Adamu Matara argued that apart from the fact that it is the state government policy that the constitution should strictly be followed, the state does not have enough resources to allocate to lawmakers for the execution of constituency projects.

However, under the present arrangement every law makers is to propose a project for his constituency, which would be executed by the executive arm of government, “and we are happy because some of us were re_elected based on the kind of projects we proposed and were executed by the government.