Aides Stop Gov Suntai From Travelling,Seize Passport

Attempt by the Taraba State government to fly out the ailing governor of the state, Governor Danbaba Suntai overseas for further medical treatment was said to have suffered setback against the backdrop that the travelling passport of the governor was reportedly in possession of two of his top associates who have refused to release it.

Meanwhile, strong indications emerged yesterday that plans were underway to impeach both the ailing governor and the acting governor, Garba Umar, to pave way for the Speaker of the State Assembly to preside over the conduct of the 2015 election.
It was gathered that the wife of the governor had agreed for further medical treatment for her husband, but Suntai’s associates were said to have held on to the passport even after what the source described as repeated requests from the family.
According to a source, the development was said to have created a sharp division between the family of the governor and his associates who were quoted as telling the governor’s family that further treatment abroad for the governor would undermine the larger political agenda which the governor’s group were at the moment pressing for.
The source said that the non-availability of the passport has also affected the out of court settlement entered into in a case against the state assembly by the ailing governor, even as the same forces which are in possession of the passport as gathered were also said to have ordered that the family should not negotiate the transfer of power with the acting governor.
It was gathered that the said associates were provoked by the cordial relationship between the governors’s family and acting governor and were plotting to impeach both Suntai and Umar, the acting governor. Sources disclosed that the plan was to make the speaker an interim governor to instal a governor from the Southern zone of the state in 2015.
Meanwhile, the Taraba Transition Assembly has taken a swipe at Senator Emmanuel Bwacha for declaring his gubernatorial ambition at a time there were challenges on how to secure further treatment for his close friend, Governor Suntai.