Members of the Kastina State House of Assembly protested against Governor Dikko Umar Radda’s ban on mobile phones during a joint meeting on Wednesday according to the PUNCH report.
The lawmakers claimed that Governor Radda instructed security personnel to ensure that all attendees submitted their mobile phones before entering the venue.
The meeting, scheduled for 11 am, was delayed for about two hours due to the protests and a walkout by the lawmakers.
Security operatives at the Government House enforced the governor’s order, preventing both lawmakers and journalists from entering the meeting with their phones. This prompted the lawmakers to stage a walkout.
Governor Radda had called for the joint meeting with the Executive Council, State Assembly, and 34 local government chairmen to discuss the recent Supreme Court verdict on local government autonomy and the signing of the 2024 supplementary budget.
Our correspondent observed that the lawmakers pleaded with security operatives to allow them to keep their phones, but their request was denied. The situation escalated when the intervention of House Speaker Nasir Daura was ignored.
“This is embarrassing. Even after much persuasion and pleadings, the security people still did not allow us access to the meeting venue with our phones,” one of the aggrieved lawmakers said.
Other lawmakers considered the directive and action offensive and an infringement on their rights. “As you can see, in anger, we had to call the speaker out of the venue to join us in the protest. We told him, ‘You better come out of there and meet us at the complex immediately.’ Luckily, the Speaker too left the building,” another lawmaker said.
After two hours, the lawmakers eventually returned to the venue, where Speaker Daura presented the 2024 supplementary budget to Governor Radda for his assent. While presenting the budget, Daura assured Radda of the Assembly’s support for the government’s policies.
“We are here to present the 2024 supplementary budget for Katsina State as passed by the honourable House. The House of Assembly is ever ready to support your policies. Thank you,” Daura stated.
Governor Radda, after signing the supplementary budget into law, announced the adjusted figure of N27,399,967,890 and expressed his gratitude for the Assembly’s support. He also announced his plan to take a 30-day leave from official duties.
“I want to thank the House for the passage of the supplementary budget. You are always supportive of this government and prompt in addressing the challenges affecting the State. We thank you very much,” Radda said. “The adjusted figure of the budget is an inflow sum of N27,399,967,890. And the total budget we have for the state including the supplementary budget is in the sum of N481,788,301,120 that has just been signed.”
Governor Radda added, “I also want to seize this opportunity to inform you that I will be leaving for my vacation tomorrow, Thursday, 18 July 2024, and hope to return back to Katsina on the 18th of August, 2024. I transmitted power to the Deputy Governor to act as an acting governor for this period of 30 days. I have sent the letter to the State Assembly, which was approved as provided by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The acting governor, I wish you well for these 30 days while in office.”
