Taraba Assembly returns Abel as Speaker

Taraba State House of Assembly in the early hours of today returned Hon. Abel Diah of Mbamga State Constituency as Speaker barely three months after he vacated the seat, following Appeal court ruling.

Hon. Abel

Abel was elected Speaker at the inauguration of the 8th Assembly in June last year, but stepped aside in December, following the Appeal Court ruling in Yola, Adamawa State, which ordered rerun election in 8 poling units of his constituency.

In the rerun election conducted on February 20, Abel of the People’s Democratic Party, (PDP) defeated his main challenger, Mr. Emmanuel Bongo of the All Progressive Congress (APC) to return his seat in the house.

At the resumed sitting of the house in Jalingo yesterday, Clerk of the house, Ismaila Ukwen Tentason citing Order 2, Rule 9 of the House Standing Order declared the seat of the speaker vacant.

Ukwen told members that the Speaker, Hon. Mark Useni in a communication to the house has resigned his position as speaker, citing personal reasons which he did not disclose.

The outgone Speaker, Mark Bako Useni of Takum II then nominated Hon. Abel Diah of Mbamga Constituency and was seconded by Hon. John Bonzena of Zing State Constituency and members unanimously adopted the nomination.

In his speech shortly after his swearing in as speaker, Abel thanked his colleagues for finding him worthy to serve them again and commended the house for its unity and maturity.

He commended the outgone speaker for his role in stabilising the house, describing him as a symbol of unity. He reminded members on the need to work tirelessly in supporting the governor in his rescue mission, saying the house has no reason to fail.