THE CONTROVERSYB RAGES ON BABA DANFULANI SUNTAI (GOVERNOR OF TARABA STATE). Danbaba Suntai........... Wole Ayodele, in Jalingo, examines the continuing debate over the health status of Governor Danbaba Suntai of Taraba State Right from the day he was involved in a plane crash on October 25 last year, Taraba State Governor Danbaba Danfulani Suntai has been enmeshed in one controversy or the other, which continues to put the state in a seeming political logjam. On the night of the plane crash, it was reported by some media organisations that he had died in the accident along with his four aides that were in the ill-fated Cessna plane. The report turned out to be false, as the governor and his aides were later evacuated to German Unit of the Specialists Hospital in Yola where he was stabilised before being moved to the National Hospital in Abuja from where he was flown out of the country two days later to a German hospital. ‘Brain Damage’ While he was undergoing treatment in Germany, it was reported that he was brain-damaged as a result of severe injuries he sustained in his head and may, therefore, not be able to function effectively again as governor of the state because it would take some time before he is fully recovered to return to the country. The report generated a lot of controversy, as the state government vehemently refuted it and insisted that Suntai was not brain-damaged but was actually responding positively and very fast to treatment. The government added that the governor would soon return to the country fully recovered to continue the good work he had been doing in the state. The state government, through the Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Mr. Emmanuel Bello, told the people of the state to shun any negative reports about the governor just as he enjoined them to continue to pray fervently for his quick recovery. However, based on the reports, opposition elements in the state called on the state House of Assembly to direct the State Executive Council to constitute a medical panel to determine the true state of health of the governor or better still, declare him incapacitated and swear-in his deputy, Alhaji Garba Umar (UTC) as the substantive governor of the state. Umar had earlier been proclaimed acting governor by the Assembly. But the opposition insisted that there was a grand conspiracy to cover up the true state of Suntai’s health. Picture Show As the controversy rages, suddenly, pictures of Suntai appeared in the media to buttress the claims of the state government and his loyalists that he was responding positively to treatment and would soon be discharged by his German doctors to return to his work as governor of Taraba State. In one of the pictures, Suntai was seen carrying one of the twins delivered by his wife few weeks after the plane crash while the wife was carrying the other baby. In another picture, he sat with the Taraba State PDP chairman, Mr. Victor Bala Kona, and was flanked by another family friend while his younger brother, Babangida Suntai, perched behind them. But opposition elements in the state, mainly from Suntai’s Peoples Democratic Party, were quick to discredit the pictures. They alleged that the pictures were computer creations that do not reflect Suntai’s true state of health. The opposition challenged the state government to televise Suntai or arrange for him to address the people of the state in a live broadcast. Transfer Controversy Before the dust generated by the publication of the pictures would evaporate, another dust was raised by the views expressed by erstwhile medical director of the state’s Specialists Hospital, Professor Aliyu Zakari, in an interview with a national daily. Zakari stressed that Suntai’s case was getting worse at the German hospital where he was admitted, saying there is need to urgently transfer him to John Hopkins Hospital in United States for better treatment. The interview was considered to be in bad taste by the state House of Assembly, which quickly set up a panel headed by Hon. Edward Baraya representing Karim II, to probe the views expressed by the 42-year-old professor of medicine, ascertain his motives, and determine his competence to make such comments. Though, Zakari was allowed to take his leave after his appearance before the panel which generated a very heated debate, he ceased to be medical director of Jalingo Specialist Hospital in controversial circumstances few days after his appearance before the panel. Factionalisation But while the ship of the state continued to sail on under Umar’s captaincy, the state chapter of PDP remained deeply factionalised. A section of the party led by Senators Abubakar Tutare and Jummai Aisha Alhassan, representing Taraba Central and North, respectively, and immediate past state chairman of the party, Alhaji Abdulmumuni Vaki, continued their opposition to the composition of the state PDP executive put in place by Suntai and led by Kona. Though, there had been agitations and opposition to the current PDP leadership in the state from the Tutare/Alhassan/Vaki group before Suntai’s health issue, they stepped up their agitation for the dissolution of the Kona-led executive following the absence of Suntai who had done everything in his power to sustain the Kona leadership. Exparte Motion In a bid to resolve the crisis in the state chapter of the party, occasioned by Suntai’s absence, the PDP National Working Committee set up a seven-man committee headed by Senator Hope Uzodinma to look into the crisis and recommend ways of resolving it. But after the inauguration of the committee, which was given two weeks to submit its report, a Jalingo High Court presided over by Justice Nuhu S. Adi, ruling on an ex parte motion brought before him by Barrister E.A. Ibrahim Effiong Esq, counsel to Alhaji Garba Julde and Hon. Sale Audu Abu, restrained the members of the committee from acting on the terms of reference given to them by PDP pending the determination of the motion on notice filed by the plaintiffs. The motion on notice comes up for hearing tomorrow. The judge equally restrained PDP or its agents, servants or any of its organs from receiving and/or implementing any report submitted to it by the respondents or any other committee instituted by the defendants in so far as any such report touches on or relates to the absence from office of the governor of Taraba State and performance of the functions of that office in acting capacity by the deputy governor, now the acting governor, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice before the court. Other members of the PDP committee, beside, Uzodinma, are Barrister Ahmed Gullak, Alhaji Shittu Muhammed, Alhaji Bala Buhari, Professor Richard King, Mrs. Bolajoko Doherty, and Senator Abubakar U. Gada. Fresh Rumour But there were reports in various national dailies last week that there was a plan to fly the ailing governor into the country. Many believe the story was, apparently, to checkmate plans by PDP and the committee to wade into the Suntai matter, following fears in certain quarters that the committee may come up with a report that Suntai is not fit to continue in office and, therefore, the acting governor should be made substantive governor. Besides, the move to bring in the governor was said to have been predicated on thwarting an attempt by President Goodluck Jonathan to convene a meeting of PDP leaders with a view to finding a solution to the political imbroglio in the state. It is feared that the House of Assembly may be pressurised to raise a medical panel to examine whether Suntai is incapacitated or not. As if to make matters worse, a source who had leaked the information to fly Suntai back to Nigeria to newsmen said the governor was unable to recognise the acting governor who visited him recently at the John Hopkins Hospital in U.S.A. on his way to perform the lesser hajj. Although a picture of Suntai and his wife having a handshake with the acting governor while receiving him at the hospital was released to the media. Denial But Bello said the reports that Suntai could not recognise his deputy and that there were plans to smuggle him back to the country in the cover of the night lacked merit. He questioned, “First, was the source in the acting governor’s entourage to make that observation? If so, why is the source anonymous? Second, why didn’t the writers of the story make an attempt to confirm their sources’ assertion directly from the acting governor?” The commissioner continued, “The truth is that Suntai recognised the acting governor and even called him by name. There are reputable eye witnesses in the hospital to testify to this. The reporters should have found out from the source if he or she was present during the said encounter. What is more, Suntai can recognise everyone and everything around him as attested to by even his doctors in a recent report.” Alleged Impersonation The controversy raged even more when a source from the state’s Government House was quoted as alleging that Suntai’s younger brother, who is staying with him in the U.S., had been impersonating his voice with a view to deceiving people. “The younger brother to the governor has the same voice with the governor. He is the one making the calls, pretending to be the governor. We met him with the governor when we accompanied the acting governor to see the governor recently in United States,” the source was quoted as saying. Fresh Suit In a move to compel the State Executive Council and the House of Assembly to comply with Section 189 of the 1999 Constitution by swearing-in Umar as the substantive governor of the state, 16 persons, led by Senator Saleh Usman Danboyi, last Wednesday approached a Federal High Court in Abuja to determine whether having regard to the provision of section 189 and the present health condition of the governor, the state Assembly was constitutionally under obligation to comply with the provisions of section 189(1) of the 1999 Constitution, which provides, “The Governor or Deputy Governor of a State shall cease to hold office if by a resolution passed by two-thirds majority of all members of the executive council of the State, it is declared that the Governor or Deputy Governor is incapable of discharging the functions of his office.” Joined as defendants in the suit filed by counsel to the plaintiffs, Yahaya Mahmood (SAN), are PDP, Attorney General of the Federation as well as Attorney General of Taraba State and the state House of Assembly. In a 25-paragraph affidavit deposed by Danboyi, he averred that as indigenes of the state and members of the PDP, the plaintiffs were worried and concerned about the rumoured and suspected incapacitation of the governor and his health condition. He added that the governor’s condition was affecting the progress and development of the state just as he averred that the defendants had a duty to take steps to verify the correct health condition of the ailing governor. However, when the case came up Wednesday, the trial judge, Justice Elvis Chukwu, ruled that the suit should have been filed at the Taraba Division of the court, since there was no security threat in the state.
Posted on: Wed, 28 Aug 2013 17:23:08 +0000
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