Hon. Musa Wakili Nakwada, member representing Bogoro local government area in the Bauchi state house of assembly has been rated low in terms of performance by his constituents, over one year after he was elected to represent them.
WikkiTimes in an assessment tour to some communities in Bogoro local government area reports that most of the constituents were disenchanted with Nakwada’s performance as lawmaker.
Some of the constituents interviewed by this medium said Nakwada’s performance, one year into his stewardship was not in conformity with his campaign promises and the immediate problems affecting the constituents.
Goodswill Haruna, a resident of Bogoro town told WikkiTimes that although “our number one problem in Bogoro town especially during the dry season is water, throughout his stay in the assembly, I have not heard for once when Nakwada stood-up in the Assembly to talk about water problem in Bogoro, let alone make effort to use his legislative powers to surmount the problem of water in our town.”
Haruna said although the lawmaker representing Bogoro in the state assembly is capable of sponsoring a bill that will attract development to Bogoro argued that he was not aware of any bill being shouldered by Hon Nakwada that is of benefit to the people.
He opined that the lawmaker should have given priority to provision of water, knowing fully well that Bogoro has been bedeviled by problems of water.
“Water scarcity is one of the paramount problems we are facing here, so I believe if and only he will sponsor a bill regarding that and some township roads, it will no doubt help our community”, he said.
Haruna said residents of Bogoro town during the dry season had to travel about 10 kilometers away from their residences to look for water.
Another resident, Happiness Zakka told WikkiTimes that although their major mainstay in Bogoro for generations has been Agriculture, “Nakwada has not done much to help us in that aspect, because he can legislate for us to get fertilizer on time.”
“This is the worst farming season I experienced for years now, I learnt that he distributed fertilizer on loan, but it was only given to few of his political allies”, she said.
She said although Nakwada has received a series of complaints from women farmers requesting fertilizer, “he responded by telling us that he could not get fertilizer from the relevant government agencies and that was why he was unable to allocate some portion to us.”
Happiness, a holder of National Certificate in Education, NCE, says another lingering problem affecting Bogoro constituents for years, “is inadequate teachers in our primary and secondary schools. I was expecting him as our lawmaker to make an effort within his prerogative as a lawmaker either through bill or oversight mount pressure on the state government to address this problem, the same thing applies to the health care sector”, she lamented.
Although Tina Gambo, an aged woman was not lucky to bag western education like Happiness, she was equally frustrated with the performance of the lawmaker over one year into his representation.
“I have never benefited from his representation as a lawmaker, none of my neighbors did; we don’t know if we have offended Nakwada”, she said.
A stalwart of the All Progressives Congress, APC Mr. Haruna Rikaya who is the chairman of the party in Bogoro local government said Hon Nakwada “is only representing his party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).”
According to him, the lawmaker is not representing the entire people of Bogoro “whom he is supposed to represent in the Bauchi state house of assembly.”
He said the lawmaker has “nothing to show on ground in Bogoro to prove that he has attracted any developmental project for his constituents from the Bauchi state government.”
Rikaya accused the lawmaker of not deeming it fit to “table the plights of the people he is representing before the governor, most especially water scarcity and road networks for probable solution.
But Mr Emanuel Kurmi also a resident of Bogoro disagrees with Mr. Rikaya where he rated Hon. Nakwada, high in terms of performance.
“Nakwada in my opinion could be rated 70 percent in terms of his performance so far.”
Kurmi who said Hon Nakwada “is someone who has a listening ear”, noted that the lawmaker has made efforts towards addressing water problems by collaborating with some non-governmental Organizations to rehabilitate solar powered water projects in Bogoro metropolis.
Responding to comments made by the APC Chairman in Bogoro LGA, Mr. Peter Zakka, Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Bogoro ‘C’ ward said Hon. Nakwada has performed creditably well compared to other lawmakers who preceded him.
“Nakwada is incomparable, we have produced many lawmakers in the past, no one has his records”, he insisted.
WikkiTimes had on September, 27th contacted Hon. Musa Wakili Nakwada for his response regarding the low performance ascribed to him by some of constituents.
Nakwada who promised to offer his response within the week had not done so 28 days after he was contacted by this medium.
Repeated text messages and calls put through his mobile line by our correspondent were neither answered nor responded to.
WikkiTimes had in a report unearthed how 9 out of the 31 members of the current Bauchi State House of Assembly including a former speaker have remained without any legislative piece to their credit, despite collecting over N544 million in salaries and allowances in 12 months.
An exclusive document containing a summary of legislative activities from June 20th, 2019 to May 28th 2020 obtained by this medium revealed that the nine lawmakers have sponsored no single bill, had no motion, matters or reports to their credit, despite gulping a huge amount of money in salaries and constituency allowances.
The report also indicates that most of the other 22 lawmakers have also performed poorly during the period under review, as the assembly produced only one legislative bill, the violence against person prohibition bill sponsored by the Speaker, Abubakar Y.Suleiman.
Findings by WikkiTimes reveal that most of the lawmakers hardly present bills, motions or matters bordering on immediate needs of their constituents.
Checks by WikkiTimes revealed that although Hon. Nakwada had no bill to his credit, the lawmaker has two motions and one matters of urgent public importance between June 2019 to May, 2020.
