Kano Speaker faces recall, as constituents petition INEC

By Umar Muhammad Puma

Constituents of Fagge Constituency of Kano State have submitted a petition to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) demanding the recall of their representative, Yusuf Abdullahi Ata.
Ata, who is the Speaker Kano State House of Assembly, was elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to represent Fagge Constituency.
The Constituents accused the lawmaker of distancing himself from his constituents, and as such they have lost confidence in him.
The petition was submitted to INEC on 2nd January 2018 by Fagge Civil Society, signed by its Secretary General Ammar Sanusi Laure.
The group said the move to recall Yusuf Abdullahi Ata from the state assembly was in pursuant to section 110 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The constituents attached signatures of registered voters to the petition, and demanded that INEC commences actions towards recalling the member.
Speaking to journalists in Abuja, shortly after submitting the petition, Sanusi said “We have about three reasons for wanting to recall him. One, he is not performing the work of a lawmaker, which includes oversight. Two, he does not have an open door policy; and three, he doesn’t care to even sit with his constituents to know their plight in order to take it up.
“For us, if any representative of the people can’t ensure all these, then there is a problem; and such a person shouldn’t continue occupying the seat. Therefore, we feel he has to be recalled for a committed person to replace him.”
Asked whether they have made any attempt to see the lawmaker, Sanusi said: “We made several attempts to see him but in vain. In fact, at some point, we had to give him a one-week ultimatum; but no success was recorded. We later realized that some people close to him wanted to use the opportunity to score political points.”