Two top level political sources in
Taraba State have told SaharaReporters that the days of Danbaba Suntai
as governor of the state may be numbered. “Alhaji Danbaba Suntai will be
replaced soon,” said one of the sources. As a first step
towards Mr. Suntai’s removal, the national leadership of the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) today inaugurated a committee to determine the
status of his office. Mr. Suntai was seriously injured in October,
2012 when a small plane he was piloting from Jalingo crashed near the
airport in Yola, the capital of Adamawa. The governor was trying to land
the aircraft at the time of the accident.Speaking to members of
the seven-man committee in Abuja on Monday, the PDP’s national chairman,
Bamanga Tukur, said the party decided to intervene in order to resolve
the political situation created by Mr. Suntai’s accident. One of the
tasks given to the committee was to discover and report the political
repercussions among key stakeholders of the governor’s sickness and
absence.“Interact and establish the most effective approach to
reduce to the barest minimum, the fears of all the contending interest
in Taraba State,” Mr. Tukur told the committee members.The PDP
chairman added: “Fast track the process of constitutional adherence as
it affects the current status of the office of the governor of Taraba
State.“Ensure that in all practical implications, the PDP Taraba
emerge stronger and more united in responding to all the partisan
challenges arising thereafter in the state.“Consider and report
any other matter that is, in the opinion of this committee, relevant in
the resolution of the political condition of the state.”
Members
of the committee are Hope Uzodinma, Ahmed Gulak, Shittu Mohammed, Bala
Buhari, Richard King, Bolajoko Doherty, and Abubakar Garda, who is
serving as secretary. Following the plane crash, Mr. Suntai was
briefly treated at the National Hospital, Abuja before being flown to
Germany for continued urgent treatment. Despite efforts by PDP officials
to paint a rosy picture of Mr. Suntai’s recovery, SaharaReporters
revealed that the governor had suffered significant brain damage that
rendered him incapable of recognizing visitors, including members of his
family. “Some of us told the leadership of our great party in
Abuja that we cannot go on telling ourselves lies about the condition of
Alhaji Suntai,” said one of our sources. “They now realized that what
we’re saying is true. That’s why the committee has been set up,” he
added. Mr. Suntai was moved to the US and is being treated at
undisclosed hospital in the East Coast. A source said the governor’s
brain impairment remains a serious issue.Mr. Tukur asked the committee to submit its report within two weeks.