Ningi Local Council members at a news conference in Bauchi on Thursday

The 18 elected council members of the Ningi Local Government Council of Bauchi State has dismissed as misleading purported suspension of its Chairman, Alhaji Mahmuda Talba.

Speaker of the Council, Malam Yakubu Mohammed, gave the clarifications while reacting to the suspension claim at a news conference, on Thursday in Bauchi.

Mohammed, who led 17 other members of the Council, dismissed the purported suspension letter attributed to its Secretary, Haruna Abdulhamid as “mischievous and baseless.”

“It is only the council that has the constitutional power to suspend or remove the chairman from office, not the council’s Secretary as indicated in the letter.

“We wish to categorically state that we never sat, deliberated and resolved to suspend the Executive Chairman.

“Therefore, the said letter never emanated from us and we strongly condemn it and whoever writes or supports it.

“We want to further state that we are in total support of our Executive Chairman. He has done nothing wrong to warrant any suspension from the council,” he said.

They urged the Secretary to the State Government, Mr Ibrahim Kashim, to identify and take necessary action against the perpetrators of the “mischievous act.”