Suntai: Taraba at cross-roads?

The governor, who was piloting the plane crashed at Namtari village near Yola in neighbouring Adamawa State with some aides on board.  The national chairman of the party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur had on Monday, May 27, inaugurated the committee in Abuja headed by Senator Hope Uzodinma. The committee which was given two weeks to submit […]

The governor, who was piloting the plane crashed at Namtari village near Yola in neighbouring Adamawa State with some aides on board. 
The national chairman of the party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur had on Monday, May 27, inaugurated the committee in Abuja headed by Senator Hope Uzodinma. The committee which was given two weeks to submit its report has as presidential political adviser, Ahmed Gulak, Shittu Mohammed, Bala Buhari, Prof. Richard King and Mrs. Bolajoko Doherty as members with Senator Abubakar Gada as secretary.
The committee is to find out and report the extent of the political harmony or otherwise among the key stakeholders in the PDP in the state;   interact and establish the most effective approach,   reduce to the minimum, the fears of all the contending interests in the state;   fast-track the process of constitutional adherence as it affects the current status of the office of the Governor of Taraba State and to ensure that in all practical implication, the PDP in the state emerges stronger and more united in responding to all the partisan challenges arising thereafter.
The national chairman had told the committee the party intervened to check the tension created by Mr. Suntai’s “sickness and absence.”
However, Weekly Trust gathered the Taraba  State Executive Council, House of Assembly and the PDP state exco among others are widely divided over the status of Governor Suntai and whether to confirm the Acting Governor or not.
The removal of the Speaker of the Taraba State House of Assembly, Hon. Istifanus Gbana, his deputy, Peter Abel Diah and other principal officers of the House on April 22, are underlining moves to pave the way for Umar’s   confirmation at the appropriate time.
Gbana, who is believed to be a strong ally of Governor Suntai, was impeached for gross misconduct, unruly behavoiur and divide and rule method in the legislature. He was replaced by Hon. Haruna Tsokwa representing Takum 1 constituency.
This move is strategic as the Speaker is the one empowered by section 189 of the Constitution  to set up a medical panel to that is to ascertain the true state of health of the governor and whether he is fit to continue to hold office or not.
Besides, a source in Jalingo, the state capital told Weekly Trust that a section of the party’s exco in the state has informed the national secretariat in Abuja, that the state cannot continue by telling the people false report on the health condition of the governor and must intervene.
But, as an apparent detour, the acting governor, in a Democracy Day state-wide broadcast tried to disabuse  the minds of the people saying the condition of the governor is “stable.” 
The acting governor was emphatic: “on this occasion of Democracy Day celebration, we are counting our blessings as a people and as a government. We are very pleased to note that the medical condition of our leader, Governor Danbaba Danfulani Suntai (CON) has remained progressively stable and he is expected to be discharged soon from the John Hopkins Hospital in the USA, where he has been receiving further treatment after the initial round at a German Hospital.”
But a competent source in Jalingo told Weekly Trust that the remarks on the health condition of the governor was “mere politics” and to disabuse the minds of people that he (acting governor) is interested in taking over.
“The truth is that uptil now he (Suntai) is incapacitated. The acting governor is playing politics so that people would not say that he is the one wanting to be confirmed as governor. So, he has to play politics   though, he likes it. The Executive Council has no much say, because a new Speaker has been elected,” the source explained.
The absence of the governor has caused ripples with the governor’s information managers “hoarding” the true health condition with several internal wranglings and power struggle by disenchanted members of the party demanding change in status quo.
In February, a faction of the party, led by the former state Chairman, Abdulmumuni Vaki, stormed the national secretariat to protest the manner the party’s affairs were ran, expressing fear that if nothing was done to check the situation; it could spell a doom for the 2015 elections.
For Senator Aisha Jummai Alhassan who represents Taraba North in the Senate, the move  is a step in the right direction and expressed the hope that the committee would do a good job.
“The committee members are people of high integrity. We believe they will really find the facts. As I have always said, the truth is always one; no matter how you go round and round, you will still come back to the same point,” she noted.
She explained that the PDP in Taraba State is being run as a one man show, pointing out that there was no internal democracy, hence the disenchantment among members.
 Also, a member of Concerned Indigenes of Taraba State, Danjuma Munga described the inauguration of the committee as a welcome development, wondering why the state executive council and PDP in the state had done nothing all the while to salvage the state from the political limbo it has found itself since the governor was involved in a plane crash.
Munga said there was no need playing politics with the governor’s health condition, pointing out that the whole state should not be held to ransom because of the absence of one person.
The Public Relations Officer of the PDP in Taraba State, Napoleon G. Adamu, told Weekly Trust that the setting up of the committee was in order, stressing that the committee is a fact finding one and should not be pre-empted.
“Since the setting up of the committee is to make the PDP in the state more formidable and stronger, it is a welcome development,” he said.
According to him, the party at the state level has earlier set up a reconciliatory committee to address the situation, but could not make much headway before the move by the national secretariat.   
The former gubernatorial candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in 2011 elections, Barrister Mohammed Bello Mustapha, told Weekly Trust that the matter at stake is not a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) affair, but a constitutional matter that affects the entire people of Taraba State irrespective of their political or religious affiliations.
According to him, “the PDP should steer clear of the matter”; pointing out that Section 189 of the Constitution clearly specified the procedures to be followed when a situation such as this arises.
Mustapha said in a situation like this, it is incumbent on the Speaker of the State House of Assembly to empanel a team of five medical experts to visit the ailing governor to ascertain whether he is in any way incapacitated from discharging his constitutional powers.
Mustapha said the Constitution provides that one of the doctors must be the personal physician to the governor while the remaining four must be experienced medical practitioners who are versed in knowledge in the particular ailment the governor is suffering from.
He said   upon returning from the medical visit, the team of medical experts would submit their report to the State Executive Council which will sit with two thirds to take decision on the matter.
He noted that if the team of the medical experts ascertained that the office holder is recuperating and could still come back to discharge his functions, then the persons in the acting capacity would continue to hold forte, but if otherwise, the exco would declare him incapacitated and at that point ceases to hold the office.
He explained that the Speaker would sign the report and publish it in the Gazette while the acting governor would be confirmed.