Right Honourable Tukur Bala Bodinga, is the Speaker of the 10th Sokoto State House of Assembly. He represents Bodinga North Constituency, elected member in 2019 and was unanimously elected Speaker by his fellow members. In this interview, Bodinga speaks about the fundamental and constitutional functions of the Assembly, which is to enact new laws, amend or repeal existing laws and carry out a diligent oversight of the executive and the challenge of managing the members of the Assembly.
How has it been as the Speaker of the Sokoto State House of Assembly?
Glory be to Almighty Allah for giving us the wisdom and ability to successfully steer the affairs of the Sokoto State House of Assembly. So far so good. As Speaker, I understood very early and clearly that I am first amongst equals, so I knew I had treated every member with utmost respect. And the other key functionaries of the House, the Deputy Speaker, and the other principal officers of the House equally understood this fact and this has been helpful in managing the House. The stability and the focus of the House is attributable to the fact that every member understands that as representatives of the people that we must take our constitutional responsibilities seriously. These have largely made my job of leading the House very easy. I remain eternally grateful to them.
The other factor is that the House leadership from the very outset adopted the principle of inclusiveness, transparency and accountability. And the fact that we see every member as a stakeholder in the development of our dear state, even if he is of the minority party. The majority would have their way, but the minority would have their say. Again, the members have exhibited a high degree of responsibility. We have informal conversations and share opinions and these have helped us in building consensus on issues that ordinarily would have precipitated a crisis.
What is the working relationship between the House of Assembly and the Executive Branch? Does the governor see the House as a partner in the development of the state; does the Governor carry the House of Assembly along?
The relationship between the Executive and the Legislature is very cordial and it’s the same with the Judiciary, even though our interaction for obvious reasons is limited. We are three arms of government with different roles, but married by the Constitution to work in harmony for the good of the people. We are partners in progress, who must work together in the overall interest of our people.
A lot of credit for the smooth working relationship goes to the Executive under the able and inspiring leadership of His Excellency Dr. Ahmed Aliyu Sokoto who has continuously treated the Honourable House as partners in progress and with utmost respect. The governor, in spite of his enormous power, consults us and he always carries us along because he understands that we are partners in the Sokoto State project.
Clearly the Sokoto State House of Assembly which you lead has no reason to complain?
Not at all, because the governor gives to Caesar what’s due to Caesar and like they say, respect is reciprocal. So, we equally respect him as the Chief Executive and he in return respects us as the legislature – the representatives of the people. We are satisfied with the way he is running the state and the fact that he consults widely. The governor takes our advice collectively and individually because he relates with us. We have no reason to complain….the governor is not arrogant and that has helped a lot.
Mr. Speaker as the representatives of the people, what feedback mechanism does the House have that helps it gauge the opinion of the people on its performance. Do you hold town hall meetings where you engage them on your activities?
The House has quite a number of feedback mechanisms – public hearings, town hall meetings, we also have a website where every member can be reached by his or her constituents. It’s a functional and interactive website. So, members of our various constituencies interact with us online, real time. We also maintain constituency offices with staffs whose duties include bringing to our attention issues affecting our communities. Without the people we can’t be members. So, we have several ways of communicating with the people. And this is something we take very seriously. Any politician that takes the people for granted will certainly be a one term member, because the people are well informed contrary to the impression of some people. And being grassroots people we meet during weddings, funerals and we always have conversations. They also know that they can present bills through their members. The feedback mechanism is working well. And we are very happy.
In the 10th House of Assembly, how many of your members returned from 2019?
More than 16 members came back from the 2019 set. It’s important to stress that some members for personal reasons decided not to seek re-election. Some members died and of course some didn’t get their party’s ticket to contest in 2023. So, the number of those who returned goes to show that we are truly in tune with our people. The casualty rate is not as bad as that of the National Assembly.
However, Nigerians must understand that there are several other reasons why many members don’t go back. For instance, in some constituencies practice zoning, a member elected in 2023 won’t spend beyond one term. The high turnout of members is a tragedy because it affects the capacities of the legislature. We need to do something about this.
Would you in all honesty say that the Sokoto State House of Assembly has effectively represented the interests of all citizens of Sokoto State?
Yes, I can beat my chest that we have and the evidence is in our work which is obvious. And I am happy that the governor and the people agree that we have always stood by them and solidly aligned ourselves with the interest of the state. Though for some Nigerians, a harmonious relationship means that the legislature has been compromised, on the whole, the Sokoto State House of Assembly has kept its covenant with the people of Sokoto State.
Are there laws that the executive wanted passed and the House refused because it’s not in the interest of the people. And then in terms of debating the budget estimates, are there issues that you have included or removed and the executive accepted it in good faith?
First, it’s important for Nigerians to understand that the annual budgets for instance are essentially estimates submitted by the executive arm and which the House has a constitutional responsibility to legislate on, before it can become a law. So, when absolutely necessary we have effected amendments to the budget estimates and other bills after public hearings.
The point is that we don’t have a monopoly of knowledge and we are grateful to the governor for sharing this fact. In the case of budget estimates, what the executive usually presents to us is a draft estimate which we debate, and subject to scrutiny and after necessary amendment(s), we pass and forward to the governor for his signature. In Sokoto State, we work as a team, there are a lot of regular consultations and because we understand the governor’s position – the development of Sokoto State- we are able to work in harmony. I repeat that Governor Sokoto, in spite of his enormous powers, is a democrat.
Did the House tinker with some laws and the budget to show that it is not a rubber stamp legislature?
Absolutely no. Again, let me fundamentally address the issue of rubber stamp legislature. The Sokoto State House of Assembly has never subjected any bill to unnecessary amendments, just to prove a point. I must also commend the executive for sending us well researched and crafted bills. In fairness to the governor, he is always ready to listen to our opinion. For instance, during the debate on the 2025 budget we discovered that some important areas were not included – an oversight and we pointed this out and the governor was very okay with our observations. I think it’s essentially a matter of approach. And this has reduced areas of friction. Thankfully, there hasn’t been any issue that we haven’t been able to amicably resolve because of the good communication between both branches.
And you carry out your oversight functions?
The Sokoto State House of Assembly takes its oversight functions very seriously. We have a responsibility on behalf of the people to effectively monitor the executive on behalf of our people. It’s a sacred mandate. I don’t think there’s any other house that gives priority to its oversight functions like this assembly. I must commend my colleagues because they take this and every assignment very seriously. We religiously ensure that we monitor the executive, even though the executive governor has made our assignment a lot easier for us by appointing very serious-minded people into positions. And for being a man that believes in the Rule of Law.
How about funding?
We are not autonomous. But the house is well funded.
Do the commissioners and other appointees appear before the House when summoned?
Again, I must thank the governor for making it abundantly clear to his appointees that they must promptly honour our invitations. It’s mandatory and on our part, we only invite them when it’s absolutely necessary.
Let’s talk about the achievements of the 10th House of Assembly. To date, how many bills has the House passed under your leadership?
Alhamdulillah, the Honourable House in the last two years has passed 25 bills, of which 22 of have been assented to by the governor. The remaining three will soon be transmitted to the governor for assent.
Do the outstanding bills include that on Mandatory and Compulsory premarital medical screening, and would you say that you have achieved your major legislative priorities for the current session of the House?
Yes, and it’s important to stress that the bill is a private member bill. Yes, we have substantially achieved our major legislative goals for this year. And we are satisfied with our performance. So far, so good. But if something comes up and we are on holiday, we will immediately report for duty. Once the executive sends a bill to us, we have no choice because every issue touches on the life of our electorate directly.
Do your members regularly attend training? And do you organize working visits to other States Houses of Assembly?
We take capacity building for our members as seriously, even as we take our assignments as lawmakers. We don’t joke with training. Members must constantly and continuously improve themselves because the world is in a constant state of change. Take cyber security threats, Artificial Intelligence … members must have a good understanding of these developments to be able to fashion out legislative solutions to them. Each quarter, our members and staff of the assembly who provide us with the necessary support to function are sent for training. Again, we must thank His Excellency and our development partners who have ensured that we are adequately equipped to perform our responsibilities.
Mr. Speaker, last year the Sokoto State House of Assembly passed some consequential amendments: the Sokoto State Discrimination Against Persons with Disability Law; Sokoto State Local Government 2009 Law, Land Tenancy, Zakat and Rural Roads …unfortunately that of the local government generated some controversy….
This goes to prove that the Sokoto State House of Assembly is a very productive assembly. Like they say when you want to kill a dog you give it a bad name. So, to derail the good intentions of the governor the opposition went to town that the amendment was targeted at the Sultan of Sokoto, as a prelude to his deposition. Unfortunately, based on their mischief and falsehoods they succeeded in overheating the polity.
The laws that we passed include the Discrimination against Persons with Disability Commission’s Law, the Zakat and Endowment Commission’s Law, the Tenancy Control and Safety of Persons Commission Law, which by their functions can only function as agencies of government and not as commissions like the Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice said in his presentation during the consideration of the amendment to the bills. The amendment was absolutely necessary in order to bring these laws into conformity with the Nigerian Constitution. And the House wholeheartedly agreed with his submission and that of other stakeholders.
After the local government bill was passed, I am happy the people finally understood that they were misled by the opposition despite our efforts to convince them that the bill had nothing to do with the Chieftaincy Appointment and Deposition Law, which is the one that relates to the removal of the Sultan. Thankfully, we stood our ground and everyone is enjoying the benefits of all the bills that we have passed. As a result of the rural roads law the governor has been able to construct several roads. Those roads wouldn’t have been possible without the instrumentality of the law.
As part of the activities marking the governor’s impactful two years anniversary, the 7.7 km Gande–Male–Gwahitto–Fako Road, executed under the Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP) was recently commissioned. They mounted a similar campaign against the Zakat agency, that we are going to remove the chairman of Zakat Agency, again he is still there. The amendment of the local government law changed the tenure of the Chairmen and Councillors from two to three years. For a governor who ran on a 9- Point Smart Agenda that includes Local Government Autonomy this amendment was very important to him. The governor has no doubt that the council chairmen can deliver if given the right support. In all honesty what can an elected chairman achieve in two (2) years? The answer is no, and this explains why the governor deemed it necessary to increase their tenure to enable them initiate and execute projects. The last administration changed the law to two years in 2016, before that amendment the tenure was three years. The other amendment was to Section 13, and Section 14 which is in respect of purchase of nomination forms for the Chairmanship and councillors positions. The executive thought it better to give the State Independent Electoral Commission the power to determine the amount to be paid for nomination forms. The other amendment was in respect of Section 76 of the Local Government Law as it relates to the functions of the Sultanate Council in the appointment of district and village heads. The Attorney General enlightened the people of the state during the Public Hearing, that under the Nigerian constitution, executive powers are vested in the governor, and that it’s the governor that can appoint, while the Sultanate Council can only recommend. We have been vindicated by the outcome.
Was the Sokoto State Community Security Corps bill an executive bill and was it a challenge?
Yes. That’s another consequential bill that we passed, and we rose to the challenge because the House of Assembly is about the welfare and security of the people. Once the governor intimated us about his plans we quickly went to work. We immediately sent some members on study tour to states with similar bodies. This tremendously helped us in crafting the bill and the governor wasted no time assenting the bill. This is what synergy is all about.
How would you assess the contribution of the Sokoto State Community Corps to the security of the people?
It’s satisfactory, because the members of the corps are from the communities being harassed by these insurgents they are giving it their all. The other advantage is that they know the terrain. We lost five gallant members of the corps in the line of duty. The governor’s main objective of creating the corps is to complement the security agencies. And they have been providing the security agencies with credible intelligence which they find extremely useful. They have lived up to our expectations.
