Executive Chairman, State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Dr. Grace Adagba,
By TYAV SAM TYAV, Makurdi –
Benue State House of Assembly has ordered the Executive Chairman, State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Dr. Grace Adagba, to step aside to allow the house conduct proper investigation on the recruitment exercise embarked upon by the board.
The action of the legislative house followed a motion by the Majority Whip of the House , Mr Peter Ipusu (APC/Katsina-Ala West) on Thursday during plenary in Makurdi.
The lawmaker informed the house of the resolution directing the chairman of the SUBEB to suspend the ongoing recruitment of Primary School Teachers to allow for investigation into controversies surrounding the exercise but the directive was ignored.
Ipusu noted that a day after the resolution was duly conveyed, the chairman released a statement which indicated that new cut off marks had been allocated to the various local governments based on their performance in the Computer Based Test (CBT) conducted by the board and subsequently shortlisted additional names for physical screening.
The legislator expressed worry that the statement released by SUBEB was not only reactionary but disparaging of the honour of the assembly and its resolutions.
Mr Alfred Berger of Makurdi North, who seconded the motion disclosed that the chairman lacked the integrity to continue to pilot the affairs of the board.
Explaining further, Berger revealed that the law establishing the board gave powers to the Local Government Education Authorities (LGEAs) to recruit teachers, emphasizing that the process was decentralized and the department of quality assurance of the board only supervised it.
The Majority Leader, Mr Saater Tiseer, who moved a counter motion insisted that the chairman should be given fair hearing on the matter as he explained that the day the chairman was to appear before the house, she was at the assembly by 10am as requested and appealed to the house not to take decisions by prejudice but work in line with the provisions of the constitution.
Mr. Anthony Agom (PDP/Okpokwu), who seconded the counter motion noted that the chairman should be allowed to explain herself.
While ruling on the motion, the Speaker, Mr Hyacinth Dajo, asked the Clerk, Mr John Hwande, to divide the house and the members, who voted in favour of the motion were 21 while five members voted for the counter motion.
The Speaker stated that the chairman should step aside and hand over to the Permanent Member I to allow the house carry out her investigation..
The house further constituted a seven man committee to investigate the exercise and report to the house within seven days.
It could be recalled that the house had uncovered and questioned the whereabouts of about N2. 6 billion allegedly spent by the board Chairman and asked the Chairman to refund the money.
