THE TARABA FARCE; THE Yar’Adua tragedy is being reprised in plain sight in Taraba State. The personalities are different, but the echoes are strangely familiar. Governor Danbaba Suntai, having survived a horrific plane crash, appears in no position to resume office. That did not stop his family and allies from terminating his rehabilitation abroad, and rushing him home to forestall his removal from office or the consolidation of power by his deputy. While Yar’Adua’s handlers took care to freight in their incapacitated principal under the cover of darkness, the Taraba cabal openly displayed a frail man who was unable to leave his plane unaided. On arrival in Jalingo, Suntai became incommunicado, unable to receive visitors but alert enough to sack his cabinet. To all intents and purposes, Taraba is being subjected to rule by proxy, and an avoidable crisis is being foisted on the state. As expected, religion is being deployed to justify another indecent and illegal assault on constitutional legitimacy. Suntai is a Christian, as are the majority of Tarabans; and, as such, doing the right thing would amount to handing over the state to his Muslim deputy. Lurking behind this fig leaf of faith is the real intent of the Taraba cabal: preserving power so that they can determine the 2015 succession in the state. As the Nigerian Tribune has argued recently, democratic politics cannot be the politics of exclusion. Complex societies have to practise a system of politics broad enough to accommodate the legitimate interests of ethnic, political and cultural minorities. Such a system should be strong on the rule of law, and respect for due process as the surest safeguards for every citizen, irrespective of who holds power. As the saga unfolds, it is clear that there are no innocents. For all the ten months of Governor Suntai’s absence, the Taraba State House of Assembly shirked its duty to determine his competence to govern and to clarify the power arrangements in the state. Equally disappointing is the position of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on the crisis. While upholding the decision of the state assembly that Umar should remain the Acting Governor, it came up with the incongruous and mysterious caveat that he should continue to take instructions from the ailing governor, a clear aberration. The Taraba cabal has upped the ante by dissolving the state’s cabinet and affirming that Suntai has retaken the powers of his office. It is time they got their comeuppance. As imperfect as it is, the constitution offers a way out. The Taraba legislators should assemble a panel of medical experts to assess Suntai’s fitness and competence. If the experts determine that his recovery is insufficient for the rigour of office, Suntai should be removed forthwith. The legislators may lessen the blow to his family by committing the state to funding whatever medical treatment has a viable chance to restore him to a better level of functioning. There is an immediate priority to clarify who is ruling the state. The cabal claims that Suntai has resumed, while the state’s legislators say the deputy governor should continue to act as governor. The Taraba legislators should promptly approach the courts to resolve this impasse as a matter of urgent priority. At the defeat of the Yar’Adua cabal in 2010, most Nigerians would have concluded that nobody would ever again try to pull such wantonly irresponsible stunts. Clearly, that was a misplaced hope, and when it comes to surviving in power, Nigeria’s elite can be trusted to attempt the discredited and the bankrupt. Perhaps it is time that the constitution was amended to reflect clearly, the maximum number of days a sitting president or governor can be absent from office and still retain the seat. Sad is the land where the improbably negative often becomes certain.
Posted on: Sat, 07 Sep 2013 09:30:02 +0000