Joseph Albasu Kunini, RT. HON (born 20 March 1968) is a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

politician who was the former

Speaker of the Taraba State House of Assembly The Speaker of the Taraba State House of Assembly is the political head of the Taraba State House of Assembly The Taraba State House of Assembly is a branch of the Government of Taraba State, which serves as the legislative house where all le ...

in the 9th

Assembly Assembly may refer to: Organisations and meetings * Deliberative assembly, a gathering of members who use parliamentary procedure for making decisions * General assembly, an official meeting of the members of an organization or of their representa ...

. Joseph kunini is a member of the Peoples Democratic Party who has been representing

Lau Lau or LAU may refer to: People * Lau (surname) * Liu (劉/刘), a common Chinese family name transliterated Lau in Cantonese and Hokkien * Lau clan, one of the Saraswat Brahmin clans of Punjab * LAU (musician): Laura Fares Places * Lebane ...

State Constituency in the

Taraba State House of Assembly The Taraba State House of Assembly is a branch of the Government of Taraba State, which serves as the legislative house where all legislative decisions and lawmaking for the governance of Taraba State is emanating. It is a unicameral body with ...

since 2011.

Early life and education

Joseph Kunini was born on March 20, 1968, into a simple and peasant but royal family of Albasu Kinjoh in Kunini, Lau Local Government Area of Taraba State. He enrolled into the then Local Education Authority (LEA) Primary School, Kunini in 1979 where he obtained his First School Leaving Certificate in 1985. He later gained admission into Government Day Secondary School, Kunini in 1985 and completed in 1991. He advanced to the College of Preliminary Studies, Yola in 1991 to 1992 and later proceeded to Lagos State University and graduated with Bachelor of Science Business Administration and Bachelor of Science Industrial Relations and Personnel Management in 1998 and 2003, respectively. He went further to bagged a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) in Industrial Relations and Strategic Studies from the Lagos State University and also Masters of Science (M.Sc.) in Corporate Governance from the Leeds Beckett University in 2010. He later returned to Leeds Beckett University to pursue his doctorate degree between 2012 and 2016 which earned him Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Accounting Finance.

Political career

Following his voluntary resignation in 2010 from the Federal Civil Service, Kunini delved into the political arena, contested and won in 2011 as Member representing

Constituency in the Taraba State House of Assembly on the platform of the PDP. He served as Chairman, House Committee on Finance and Appropriation between 2011 and 2013 before he was appointed Majority Leader between 2013 and 2019. In December 2019, he was elected the

following the resignation of the former

Speaker of the house The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerf ...

, Abel Peter Diah and

Deputy Speaker The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerf ...

, Muhammad Gwampo. Kunini was nominated by Bonzena Kizito, a member from

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Constituency and was seconded by Ammed Jedua of Gembu Constituency. Sixteen of the 24 members of the house who were present elected Kunini speaker of the house unopposed.

References

1968 births Taraba State Peoples Democratic Party politicians Living people People from Taraba State Lagos State University alumni Members of the Taraba State House of Assembly {{Nigeria-politician-stub