The Member representing Michika constituency at the Adamawa State House of Assembly, Hon. Joseph Ayuba Kwada, popularly known as Depolis has set a record for being the first member to sponsor a bill in the 7th Assembly.
Just as any other Assembly in the past, the 7th Assembly which also comprises of 25 members, was inaugurated on 13th June, 2019, by Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, and subsequently endorsed Rt. Hon. Aminu Iya Abbas, as it Speaker.
The house during the time under review, enacted several resolutions and a bill for a law to amend Local Government Administration Law which provided for the constitution of the current Local Government Transition Committees as sought by the Governor. The bill was an executive bill forwarded to the house for amendment.
Apart from the bill and the resolutions, the Assembly under Rt. Hon. Iya Abbas, constituted several committees which comprises of those detailed to unearth circumstances surrounding some of the actions taken by the immediate past administration.
Though, it is not yet ripe to start assessing the performance of each individual member, but while some have been performing creditable well, others are gradually learning the ropes.
Among the members that have been performing as expected is no other person than the Chief Whip of the house, Hon. Joseph Ayuba Kwada. The member has proved to be a lawmaker that knows his onions, as he becomes the first legislator to float a private bill in the 7th assembly.
The bill which is entitled, " A bill for Law to establish for the 21 Local Government Councils in the State Emergency Management Committees" has since been read for the first and second time respectively.
Already, the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Aminu Iya Abbas had while presiding over the resumed plenary session, referred the bill to the House Standing Committee on Interparliamentary Affairs, Special Duties and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and given 2 weeks within which to scrutinise the bill and submit its report for further deliberation by the house.
The primary objectives of the legislation according to Hon. Kwada, is to provide legal framework for the 21 Local Government Councils in the state to intervene in emergency situations at the grassroots level.
Simply put, it is to give Local Government Councils legal backing to enable them provide emergency services to the victims of disasters be it natural or man cut across the state.
This is not aimed at adding more burden on the LGCs, but taking into consideration how the LGCs are being strengthened by the present administration. The government of the day has given the LGCs financial autonomy and now being funded directly by the Federal Government.
It is believed that since they are being funded directly by the government, they can play a critical role in emergency situations through the provision of necessary assistance to the affected before any other intervention from the state, federal or any other organisation.
According to Hon. Kwada, the fact that LGCs are more closer to the people at the grassroots who are mostly affected by these disasters, they can be more accessible to victims and can quickly reach out to them before the state and national emergency management agencies' intervention.
More so, the sponsor of the bill thought it wise that the bill will enable management committees at LGCs mitigate damages usually recorded by the delay in reaching out to the victims by the authorities concerned. This is commendable.
But Hon. Kwada had while leading the debate on the bill at the resumed sitting, told the honourable house that if the bill is enacted and assented to by the executive arm will go along way in ameliorating the hardship usually faced by the victims of such disasters.
Hon. Kwada, a humbled, committed and one of the respected two term legislator, prayed his colleagues to accord the bill accelerated deliberation in order to see the light of the day for the betterment of the citizens in the state.
Baring his mind on the people oriented bill, Hon. Abdullahi Umar Yapak(Verre Constituency), gave kudos to sponsor of the legislation, describing the bill as timely taking into cognisance the plight of victims during disasters nowadays.
Hon. Yapak, proposed that the bill should provide for the setting of Emergency Management Departments at every LGA to be headed by the Vice Chairmen, because according to him, the Vice Chairmen do not have much responsibilities and that they should be made to report directly to chairman of the council.
He advised that the traditional rulers and the representatives of the civil society organisations should be co-opted into the committee, because according to him, the traditional rulers know who is who in their various communities.
But on his part, the Majority Leader of the house Hon. Hamman Tukur Yettisuri(Jada Mbulo), argued that the offices should not be headed by Vice Chairmen, because he said they can leave their offices at anytime; instead, it should be headed by the Heads of Service of every LGC.
Hon. Yettisuri, had while commending the sponsor of the bill, advocated for the office of protem Chairman so that whenever the head of the committee is not available he can be in charge, saying this will reduce burden on ADSEMA and NEMA respectively.
Several other legislators who spoke on the bill, commended the sponsor and made their inputs on how the bill if passed should look like, and pledged to support the so as to ensure its passage.
After contributions from the honourable members, the speaker Rt. Hon.Aminu Iya Abbas, who presided over the sitting referred the bill to house committee on Interparliamentary Affairs, Special Duties and IDPs and given two within which to submit its report.
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