The Benue House of Assembly has ordered the chairman of the State Universal Basic Education Board, SUBEB, Dr Grace Adagba, to step aside from her official duties forthwith.
The House made the decision during Thursday’s plenary to allow for an investigation into the recruitment exercise conducted by the board.
The resolution followed a motion moved by the Chief Whip, Peter Ipusu (APC, Katsina-Ala West).
Ipusu stated that the House had earlier adopted a resolution directing the chairman of the board to suspend the ongoing recruitment of primary school teachers to facilitate an investigation into the controversies surrounding the exercise. However, the directive was ignored.
He emphasised that a day after the resolution was conveyed, the chairman released a statement indicating that new cut-off marks had been allocated to various local governments based on their performance in the Computer-Based Test, CBT.
The Chief Whip also mentioned that the board subsequently shortlisted additional names for physical screening.
He expressed concern that the statement released by SUBEB was not only reactionary but also disparaging to the honour of the Assembly and its resolutions.
Alfred Berger (APC, Makurdi North), who seconded the motion, stated that the SUBEB chairman lacked the integrity to continue overseeing the affairs of the board. Berger further noted that the law establishing the board granted powers to the Local Government Education Authorities, LGEAs, to recruit teachers, emphasising that the process was decentralised and that the Department of Quality Assurance of the board only supervised it.
Meanwhile, Majority Leader Saater Tiseer appealed to his colleagues to give the chairman a fair hearing on the matter.
Tiseer mentioned that on the day she was scheduled to appear before the House, she had arrived at the assembly by 10 am as requested.
He advised his colleagues not to make decisions based on prejudice, urging them to take actions in line with the Constitution.
The counter-motion was seconded by Anthony Agom (PDP, Okpokwu), stating that the chairman should be allowed to explain herself.
Speaker Hyacinth Dajo, subsequently instructed the clerk, John Hwande, to divide the House. The members who voted in favour of the initial motion were 21, while five voted for the counter-motion.
Dajo stated that the chairman should step aside and hand over to the board’s permanent member 1 to allow the House to carry out its investigation.
He further constituted a seven-member committee to investigate the exercise and report to the House within seven days.
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