* Lawmakers back Deputy Gov
…As cabal swears in new appointees
The decision of the lawmakers was conveyed in a press release signed by the Speaker, Haruna Tsokwa on behalf of 16 out of the 24 members and made available to Daily Sun.
The move was sequel to the lawmakers’ visit to the ailing governor on Wednesday during which they saw the severity of Suntai’s injury in a plane crash last October. “He was struggling to utter some words to the delegation from the state’s assembly led by the Speaker,” some members who do not want their names in print told Daily Sun. “He did not recognise any of us including the Speaker. His speech was characterised by babbling, and was incoherent.”
According to the lawmakers, the meeting ended abruptly and they rushed back to their chamber to deliberate on the issue following which the release was issued to journalists.
The release read in parts: “The leadership of the Taraba State House of Assembly made several efforts to see him (governor) since his arrival, but we were only allowed access to the ailing governor yesterday (Wednesday, August 28, 2013). The visit revealed that he (Suntai) spoke in a manner that brought more doubt to his authorship of the letter purportedly transmitted to the Speaker of the State House of Assembly.
“In view of the above, we are convinced that he could not have authored the purported letter transmitted to the Speaker of the House of Assembly. Be that as it may, we the undersigned members (16 of them in all) of the state House of Assembly have unanimously resolved in our meeting that the deputy governor upon whom power was earlier transmitted to by the State House of Assembly still remains the Acting Governor of Taraba State and he will continue to act in that regard until such a time the governor is capable of administering the State,” the release read.
Recall that Suntai who returned to the state last Sunday from overseas sent a letter to the lawmakers in which he notified them of his readiness to resume office. The said letter, purportedly signed by him (Suntai) has pitched the governor against the legislators with the lawmakers insisting that Governor would not have authored the letter.
In a related development, facts emerged yesterday on why the ‘cabal’ administering the state, on behalf of Suntai, hurriedly fired the cabinet members.
Sources close to the seat of power in Jalingo, the state capital, revealed that the sack was to prevent any attempt by some of the cabinet members, loyal to the acting governor from raising the issue of constituting a medical board, as required by the constitution, to ascertain whether or not Suntai was medically fit or not, to continue as Taraba governor. “You know during Yar’Adua’s regime, it took a minister to raise the issue at the Council meeting, before it was ever discussed. So, his (Suntai) people are suspecting that the same thing may happen here. That is why they quickly moved to sack the cabinet.
“Look, whatever is playing out today in Taraba, has its root in what played out during the Yar’Adua saga. We hope our leaders and elders in Taraba will not allow it to end like that. But the earlier they act, the better, because Suntai does not deserve the politics they are playing with his life,” one of the sources said.
Meanwhile, there was confusion in the state on Wednesday when the Speaker and the Majority Leader, Mr. Joseph Albasu, disagreed on who should run the affairs of the state. While Tsokwa backed the Deputy Governor to continue to act until the Assembly deliberated on Suntai’s letter, Albasu said Suntai had already taken charge as governor. However, the cabal working for the Governor’s return yesterday swore in the newly appointed “government officials” without any member of the cabinet or security chiefs in attendance.
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