BY THOMAS POGGE AND MITU SENGUPTA
The frail-looking Taraba State Governor, Mr. Danbaba Suntai, who returned to the country on Sunday after spending 10 months in health facilities in Germany and the United States following a plane crash in Yola, the Adamawa State capital, in October last year, is ready to go back to work.
The governor, whose return has stoked speculations about his fitness to resume state duties, has written a letter to the state House of Assembly informing it of his return and readiness to resume official duties as governor.
He also received visitors, including his Adamawa State colleague, Alhaji Murtala Nyako, who prayed for his quick recovery. The state’s acting governor, Alhaji Garba Umar, who has held the fort since Suntai’s absence, in a state broadcast, thanked the people for their cooperation and demonstration of love for the governor by turning out en masse to receive him when he arrived in Jalingo on Sunday.
The transmission of the letter to the legislature is in compliance with Section 190 of the 1999 Constitution, which states: “Whenever the governor transmits to the Speaker of the House of Assembly a written declaration that he is proceeding on vacation or that he is otherwise unable to discharge the functions of his office, until he transmits to the Speaker of the House of Assembly a written declaration to the contrary such functions shall be discharged by the deputy governor as acting governor.”
However, THISDAY learnt that when the assembly was about to commence sitting to deliberate on the letter, the House leadership called off the sitting.
A source told reporters that the legislature decided to stand down consideration of the letter to enable the leadership brief other lawmakers on the content.
Another source said the lawmakers might invite the governor to address them on the matter. Dignitaries, including Nyako, were at the Government House yesterday to see Suntai. Though Nyako met with Suntai behind closed doors, THISDAY gathered that he offered prayers for the quick recovery of the recuperating governor.
Fielding questions from journalists after the visit, Nyako, who is a close associate of Suntai, said Taraba and Adamawa States being brothers, he must express concern for whatever happens in Taraba.
Though he declined to comment on their deliberations, he prayed God to grant Suntai quick recovery to enable him resume and continue the good work he has been doing for the state.
Addressing the people in a state broadcast on the governor’s return, Umar thanked them for their show of love and peaceful conduct while welcoming the governor back to the state.
According to him, “I want to thank the people of Taraba for their love for our beloved governor. I also thank them for their peaceful show of love on the return of the governor.”
He commended the media for the excellent coverage of the event, saying the government and people of the state appreciate their effort. Meanwhile, top government functionaries kept mum yesterday on the governor’s ability to run the state, preferring to wait as they watch events unfold.
But addressing journalists in Jalingo yesterday, youth groups under the auspices of the Coalition of Taraba Youth Movement, called on the state assembly to summon the governor to brief it on his readiness to resume his official functions.
President of the coalition, which comprises Liberal Youth Congress (LYC), North East Youth Enlightenment Forum (NEYEF), Taraba Youth Leaders Forum (TYLF), PDP Fan Club and National Union of Taraba State Students (NUTSS), Abubakar Abba Waziri, said it had become imperative for the lawmakers to do so to avert a recurrence of the drama that played out during the administration of the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.
During his illness, minders of the late Yar’Adua, who had a heart-related ailment and was incapacitated, had sneaked his body into the country and engaged in subterfuge to give the false impression that he was fit enough to discharge the responsibility of his office.
The group also called on Suntai to address the people to appreciate them for their prayers and express his preparedness to resume work. “We as youths of this state are calling on the state House of Assembly to summon the governor to appear before it to express his readiness to resume work.
“This is the only way to clear all the doubts about a letter emanating from him to the House. We also call on our dear governor to address the people of the state at least to appreciate them for their prayers in the last 10 months,” Waziri said. Another group also warned against deceiving the people of the state on the governor’s fitness.
The group, Committee for Democracy and the Right of the People (CDRP), which is based in Osun State, condemned the political developments in Taraba State and urged politicians not to replicate the Yar’Adua episode in the state.
CDRP acting National Co-ordinator, Mr. Saka Waheed, told reporters at a news conference in Osogbo yesterday that the political chicanery playing out in Taraba State violated the spirit and letters of the 1999 Constitution.
