Confusion In Taraba As Suntai's Deputy Rejects Cabinet Sack

TARABA State slipped further into confusion yesterday, with Deputy Governor Garba Umar urging the people to disregard Governor Danbaba Suntai’s “dissolution” of the Executive Council. Also yesterday, 16 members of the House of Assembly said Suntai was unfit and required medical attention. They urged him to go for treatment and allow his deputy, who acted in his stead for the 10-month period he was away, to continue in the capacity. Taraba State has been crisis-ridden since Sunday when Suntai arrived from the United States where he had the second leg of his treatment for injuries sustained in a crash in Yola, Adamawa State of an air plane he flew on October 25, last year. Umar’s Press Secretary, Mr. Kefas Sule, said in a statement in Jalingo yesterday that “the announcement (of the dissolution of the executive council) is a mere attempt by a cabal to hijack the machinery of governance. Senior Special Assistant to Suntai Mr Sylvanus Giwa announced the dissolution of the executive and the appointment of Secretary to Government and Chief of Staff. “It is not a directive that was given by the Executive Governor, His Excellency, Governor Danbaba Suntai,” said Sule. “To this end, bankers are to note that all financial instruments relating to the State Government’s accounts should be honoured only if they are in tandem with the provisions of the law.

“The instruments must contain verifiable signature of the Executive Governor of Taraba, Danbaba Suntai and verifiable signature of Alhaji Garba Umar, the Acting Governor of Taraba State.’’ The statement assured the people that substantial progress had been made to resolve the misunderstanding of the past few days. It noted the sense of patriotism exhibited by the people in the way and manner they viewed and handled developments. It said “the moment’’ called for greater restraint and vigilance. House of Assembly Speaker Haruna Tsokwa ordered Suntai to go back to the hospital for treatment until he is “capable of administering the state”. In a statement on behalf of the House, Tsokwa said Deputy Governor Garba Umar remains acting governor. Sixteen out of the 24-member House signed that Suntai should not resume on health grounds. They are: Haruna Tsokwa (Takum I constituency), Tamko Adamu (Gassol I), Mohammed Gwampo (Yorro), Josiah Sabo Kente (Wukari I), Mohamed Umar (Gashaka), Ibrahim Imam (Jalingo I), Yahaya Abduraman (Gassol II) and Iratsi Daki (Ussa). Others are: Rashia Abdullahi (Ngoroje), Aminu Jalingo (Jalingo II), Emmanuel Dame (Ardo-Kola), John Bonzema (Zing), AA Jugulde (Gembu), Hamandama Abdullahi (Bali II), Abdulkarim Mohammed (Ibbi) and Edward Baraya (Karim II). Tsokwa said the House met with the governor on Tuesday, but the governor spoke in a manner that brought more doubt to his authorship of the letter purportedly transmitted to the House. The Speaker said: “It is no longer news that the Governor of Taraba State, Danbaba Danfulani Suntai was involved in a plane crash on October 25, 2012, whereof, he was flown to Germany for treatment in a condition that made him incapable of transmitting a letter to the Taraba State House of Assembly, informing it of his absence in office. “The House invoked the provisions of Section 190(2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and transmitted power to his deputy to act the office of the governor of Taraba State. “We are all living witnesses to the way and manner the governor was brought into the state on Sunday, August 25. “The leadership of the Taraba State House of Assembly has made several efforts to see him since his arrival unitl yesterday (Tuesday) August 28 that they were allowed access to the ailing governor. And their visit revealed that he spoke in a manner that brought more doubt to his authorship of the letter purportedly transmitted to the Speaker of the State House of Assembly”. “The 16 lawmakers said they were convinced that Suntai is not the author of the letter transmitted to the House. “Be it as it may, we the undersigned members of the House have unanimously resolved in our meeting that the deputy governor will continue to act, until such a time the governor (Suntai) is capable of administering the state”. Emmanuel Bello, former Information commissioner in the dissolved executive, said the action of the lawmakers was illegal as according to him, “they are not doctors to order the governor to go for further treatment.” “All of them were at the governor’s residence yesterday, where they met him and he greeted them, mentioning each of them by their name; I just don’t understand what they want,” he said. Renowned constitutional lawyer Sebastine Hon (SAN) urged Suntai not to be distracted but to go about his lawful business of governing the state. He spoke to journalists yesterday, reacting to the statement by the Assembly, stopping Suntai from returning to office. Hon said: “Under what law, substantive and procedural, did the Taraba Assembly bring out the so-called statement? It is settled law that the business of the legislature is done through resolutions and law making and not through press-statements. “And even then, legislative businesses can only be lawfully done during plenary on the floor of the House and not in private or other premises. “In Inakoju against Adeleke (2007), one of the reasons why the Supreme Court voided the governor Ladoja impeachment was that the Oyo State House of Assembly sat in a hotel, instead of its chambers.” Hon noted that Suntai has returned and wrote to the House that he is mentally and physically fit to resume office, and has started performing those functions and was seen by all on television doing that. “I will say the man has fulfilled the provisions to the hilt,” he said. He said the House has no powers, under the Nigerian constitution, to order Suntai about. “They are arrogating to themselves the powers they lack”, he said, adding: “Are they soothsayers who could look at a man that is doing all the things a man of his standing can do and then proclaim, without medical certification, that he is not well? “Section 189 of the constitution has stipulated the procedure of declaring a governor unfit to perform the functions of his office. The section is couched in very strong, positive mandatory terms, hence must be complied with scrupulously. “By the Taraba Assembly deliberately refusing to allow Section 189 to take its full course, choosing the path of anarchy above constitutionalism and due process, all well meaning Nigerians must condemn this in clear terms,” he said.