by Oluwatosin Fatoyinbo
The Acting Governor of Taraba state, Umar Garba has cried out that a cabal is taking over the state and that the Governor, Danbaba Suntai is not fit to govern. It will be recalled that although Suntai returned to the country on Saturday, he is yet to report at his duty post at the Taraba State Government House. And Garba has said this is because the ailing Governor was only rushed into the country by the cabal to prevent the smooth running of affairs in the state.
However a group, Tarabans United for Suntai, said that Umar was prevented from seeing the ailing governor because he (Umar) had been sponsoring all sort of falsehood and half truths in the media against his boss.
But an aide to the Acting Governor, Mr Aaron Artimas reiterated that, “Suntai returned from treatment abroad and he is still in Abuja because these people are the ones thinking for him. It is those who want power that are looking up to him as the solution to their immediate problem. The truth must be told one day because no matter how long they continued to hold him and shield him from the people of Taraba State, they are still answerable to Tarabans, who elected him.
“The government, which he heads, has been supporting him financially, materially and morally. All mortals are susceptible to falling sick at any time, including death and the people around Danbaba should allow him to recover fully and he needs all the rests to do that.”
But the pro-Suntai group, in a statement signed by the Public Relations Officer, Ezekiel Gambo, said that since Suntai’s ailment, the acting governor had spent huge funds on a relentless media campaign against his benefactor; from photo cropping to outright falsehoods.
The statement said, “Right now, a rattled Umar, who sees power slipping from his quivering hands, is getting desperate sponsoring all sorts of attack against the governor. He has for instance, said he was blocked from seeing his boss at the airport and that this could only mean that the governor is not medically fit.
“But the truth is that he couldn’t see his boss on the grounds of principles. The handlers of Suntai rightly reasoned that for a deputy who just last Wednesday mandated the speaker to start the impeachment process on his boss, coming to the airport to receive or welcome that same person smacks of dishonesty. Was Umar there to ascertain if he was justified in branding his boss a vegetable? Or was he there to cause confusion? Are friends and family members not right to be wary of a man who thinks and speaks only negatively of their benefactor? And even if it is true that his boss was indeed incapacitated, should Umar, a man Suntai never offended, go after him so ferociously?”
