The Taraba state House of Assembly has embarked on a recess, ending the first session of the 8th Assembly. At a sitting held yesterday at the House chambers, presided over by Speaker, Abel Peter Diah,the House agreed to resume on 13th of June, 2016.
In his remarks before adjournment was moved, the Speaker, Abel Peter Diah, stated that it was the hope of the House to serve the state and that the House will provide the enabling platform for the Executive to operate.
He therefore, thanked Governor Darius Ishaku, for the cooperation. He added that dialogue was the only means of solving the problems of the state, saying the state has been enjoying peace and that the Executive should work towards sustaining it.
The 8th Assembly of the Taraba state House was inaugurated on the 3rd of June, 2015, marking its first year anniversary.
Meanwhile, the Speaker of the House, Abel Peter Diah, has listed the achievements of the 8th Assembly since its inauguration.
In a Press conference at the House complex held after plenary, Diah stated that the revenue profile of the state rose by 400 per cent owing to the establishment of a committee on IGR by the House.
Also, the House has been able to sanitize the city of Jalingo by getting rid of illegal motor parks and allocation of new parks, through a motion.
As regards bills, the House have pending bills which if passed would improve the condition of the state.
They include:
- The 2016 Appropriation Bill,
- The Taraba state Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency Bill,
- The Taraba State Control of Chainsaw Bill,
- Taraba state Waste Management Bill, and the
- Taraba state Thuggery Offences Bill.
These bills, according to the Speaker, was aimed at empowering the Executive and Judiciary in checking the menace of thuggery.
Also, by way of resolution, the House set up a committee to investigate the killings by herdsmen in Gashaka and Gassol, stressing that such acts were unacceptable in Taraba state.
In response to a question on whether the herdsmen/farmers’ crises had been considered in the Thuggery Bill, the Speaker said the said bill encompasses all kinds of violence. ‘Whether in the name of farmers or grazers,
if you go and unleash violence on others, you would be prosecuted under that law’, he stressed.
He added that the bill was meant to minimise farmers/grazers conflict to the bearest minimum.
According to Diah, apart from Sardauna LGA, grazing was done haphazardly in the other 15 LGA’s, and that these LGA’s can borrow a leaf from Sardauna where farmers and grazers cooperate to avoid conflict.
He disclosed that the secret behind the cordial relationship between the Legislature and the Executive was due to the fact that each branch keeps to its constitutional limits.