Taraba House Of Assembly Shows Suntai The Red Light

The Taraba State House of Assembly, on Thursday, re-affirmed Alhaji Garba Umar as the acting governor of the state.

The assembly also advised ailing Governor Danbaba Suntai to proceed for further treatment, as he was not fit to govern the state.

In a statement signed by 16 out the 24 members of the assembly, the legislators said the decision was taken in the interest of the state.

“In view of the above, we, the undersigned members of the state assembly, unanimously resolved at our meeting that the deputy governor, upon whom power was earlier transmitted by the state assembly, still remains the acting governor of Taraba.

“He will continue to act in that regards until such a time the governor is capable of administering the state,” the statement said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that the lawmakers, who signed the statement, included the Speaker, Haruna Tsokwa; deputy speaker, Tanko Maikarfi; chief whip, Mohammed Gwampo and the deputy majority leader, Josiah Kente.

Others were deputy chief whip, Mohammed Umar; minority leader, Ibrahim Imam and the minority whip, Yahya AbdulRahman.

Also in the list were Iratsi Daki, Rashida Abdullahi, Aminu Umar, Emmanuel Dame, John Bonzena, Dr Abubakar Jugulde, Hamman Adamu Abdullahi, Abdulkarim Mohammed and Edward Baraya.

Meanwhile, the battle for 2015 governorship seat in Taraba State has been found to be the root cause of ongoing political and constitutional crisis in the state.

More facts, however, emerged over discoveries made by lawmakers during their visit to Governor Suntai on Wednesday night, even as a pressure group, Taraba Justice Forum, described as deceitful, video clips of Governor Suntai aired on some broadcast stations.

It was gathered that the state was split into two main camps over the struggle to control the state machinery, ahead the 2015 governorship race. 
Loyalists of the governor, who were aiming for the governorship, were reported to be afraid that the acting governor, Garba Umar, would effectively win the 2015 governorship if he was allowed  to become substantive governor.

Those holding the view were said to have the tacit backing of former Minister of Defence, General Theophilus Danjuma and a serving senator, Emmanuel Bwacha, described as the anointed candidate of the Suntai group.

Further checks showed that loyalists of the acting governor were also pushing for their man to run for the governorship, even before he was confirmed as the substantive governor of the state.

An ally of the acting governor disclosed that “ Umar has build goodwill in the last 10 months with the way he handled state affairs.”

Supporters of Bwacha were, however, said to be bitter with any thought of Umar governorship, because Suntai, before the crash, had reportedly anointed Bwacha as his preferred successor.