Taraba Assembly speaker resigns, new one elected

The Speaker of the Taraba State House of Assembly, Joseph Kunini, has resigned his position.

Mr Kunini’s resignation letter was read at the plenary on Wednesday by the deputy speaker, Hamman Adama.

No reason was given for the resignation.

The 24-member assembly unanimously nominated Kizito Bonzina, a member representing the Zing Local Government Area, as the new speaker.

Mr Kunini, a professor, was elected speaker in 2019 following the resignation of the then speaker, Abel Peter, who had disagreements with the state governor, Darius Ishaku, on several occasions.

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Mr Kunini too has been having disagreements with the governor over the non-payment of seven years outstanding allowances of the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN) Taraba State chapter.

The embattled speaker was fingered by the executive arm of the government for the face-off by the members of the PASAN and the Taraba government.

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On Monday, while the governor was signing the 2023 appropriation into law, Mr Kunini made a case for the PASAN members, pleading with the government to settle their unpaid allowances.

Insiders said that public plea did not go down well with the governor, who allegedly provoked an impeachment plan against the speaker, who chose to resign honourably.

Also, under Mr Kunini, the state assembly rejected the governor’s plan to sell some of the state-owned properties including the Highland Tea company located at the Mambilla Plateau, in the Sardauna Local Government Area.