Taraba Assembly passes vote of confidence on Gov. Ishaku amidst calls for impeachment.
The Taraba State House of Assembly on Monday passed a vote of confidence on Governor Darius Ishaku, who has been away from the state for two months.
This is coming amidst controversy over Governor Ishaku’s continuous stay in Abuja since December last year, with the All Progressives Congress calling on the Governor to transmit power to his deputy because of his long stay away from the state.
It came also after civil servants in the state protested against the extension of the tenures of retiring Permanent Secretaries.
The vote was contained in the resolution of the House at the plenary.
House members in a resolution noted that they would resist to be used by any unpatriotic person or group of persons who for selfish reasons, according to them, are making unwarranted remarks and insinuations about the health status of Governor Ishaku.
In a motion of urgent public importance sponsored by the Speaker of the House, Joseph Albasu Kunini and 11 others, the Assembly resolved to pass a vote of confidence on Governor Darius Dickson Ishaku, for the “good work his administration is doing in the State”.
The Deputy Speaker, Hamman’ Adama Abdullahi who moved the motion, was supported by other members of present at the plenary and the House unanimously passed a vote of confidence on the Governor and his Deputy, Haruna Manu for the services they are rendering to the people of the State till the expiration of their tenure in 2023.
The resolution of the House reads that “this Honourable House hereby debunks any alleged claim of non-performance due to the absence of the Governor from Jalingo the State capital as the records of performance are there for all to see.
“That this Honourable House will resist to be used by any unpatriotic person or group of persons who for selfish reasons are making unwarranted remarks and insinuations about the health status of our amiable leader and Governor of Taraba State, His Excellency, Arch. Darius Dickson Ishaku and his administration.
It further added that the Governor and his Deputy “have performed beyond above average within the present circumstances and that as representatives of the people the House deemed it fit to pass a vote of confidence on the Governor and his administration till 2023”.
This is even as the members lauded the Governor for his numerous achievements including the recent employment of 300 new staff into the state civil service, ongoing massive roads construction in the State, reduction in cases of violence, kidnapping and armed robbery among others.
Some top civil servants in the state who spoke to BusinessDay on the extension said it was a violation of the civil service rules.
They lamented that governor Ishaku was setting a bad precedent that would affect the civil service in the nearest future.
“Gov. Ishaku should stop extending the tenure of permanent secretaries who has put in their years in civil service.
“We have some civil servants who are currently on level 17, why not exit those who are due for retirement and promote those who would want to be a permanent secretary for just a day,” one of them said.
A member of the APC in Taraba state, Nuhu Jibukivu emphasized the need for the tenure extension to be reversed so that the affected permanent secretaries could exit the service quietly.
He explained that failure to reverse the tenure extension would trigger other branches of public service rules with attendant negative consequences for the state civil service.
