Furore In Taraba Over Suntai's Second Return

There is confusion in Taraba State over the purported return of ailing
Governor Danbaba Suntai to the state from his treatment overseas.

On Friday, a group, Tarabans United for Danbaba, accused the acting
Governor, Umar Garba, of "bad faith in the expected action."

In a statement signed by its coordinator, Mr. Ezekiel Gambo, the group
said Suntai's health had greatly improved and he was expected to come
back and take over the government.

The statement said, "Governor Danbaba Danfulani Suntai's health has,
no doubt, considerably improved. He is, therefore, expected back in
the country any time this week.

"We are using this medium to disprove reports emanating from Garba
Umar and the deputy governor's camp that the governor is fully
incapacitated."

Also, a statement from a group of Taraba people in the Diaspora
expressed dismay over the happenings in the state.

In a statement by its coordinator, the Southern Taraba Citizens in the
Diaspora, based in, Ireland, expressed dismay at the spate of clashes
in the state.

It called on politicians in the state to ensure that the state was not
plunged into avoidable crisis.

But a special adviser to the acting governor, Mr. Aaron Artimas, said
the State Executive Council acted in consonance with Section 189 of
the Constitution.

He told our correspondent that if the ailing governor had been out of
office for 22 months, the government owed it to the Taraba people to
tell them what had become of their governor.

He said the team of medical professionals chosen by the government
included government doctors and the Nigerian Medical Association.

Artimas said, "If as a civil servant you are out of office for three
months, there is the need to determine whether you are in a good
condition to continue in that office. In that case, you will be
retired, if found unfit to continue.

"The people of Taraba have been deceived for 22 months and the acting
governor has been ruling without a deputy since this controversy
started. This thing cannot continue and that is why the state
executive council wrote to the speaker asking him to set up a medical
team to determine Danbaba's state of health as the constitution
demanded.

"The government or the House of Assembly has no power to declare
Danbaba permanently incapacitated, contrary to what some people have
been saying. It is only a properly constituted medical team that can
do that."