The Bauchi State House of Assembly on Tuesday declared the seat of the former member representing Dass State Constituency, Hon Musa Mantle Baraza, vacant.
Bazara, who was a member of the Assembly until the night on Thursday, 13th August 2020, when he was murdered by some unknown gunmen, represented the constituency on the platform of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC).
He was killed in his residence in Dass, the headquarters of Dass Local Government Area of the state and buried on 14th August 2020.
His wives and one-year-old daughter, Rashida Musa Mante (40), Rahina Musa Mante (35) and a daughter Fausar Musa Mante respectively, were taken away by the unknown gunmen, while four empty shells of life ammunition were recovered at the scene by the police.
The women and child, however, regained freedom after spending four days with their abductors.
At plenary on Tuesday, the Speaker of the House, Rt Honourable Abubakar Sulaiman, pronounced the seat vacant and directed the Clerk of the Assembly to formally notify the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of the development.
Sulaiman stated that in declaring the seat vacant, he was exercising the power vested in him by the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
By this development, the country’s electoral body is expected to conduct a by-election to fill the Dass State Constituency vacant seat in the Assembly at a date to be scheduled for the election by it.
