the many ways to accent a throne

The pro Danbaba Suntai loyalists in the unfolding political
drama in Taraba State are alleged to be fine- tuning plans to
reenact the kind of political script that played out in
Adamawa State recently leading to the ouster of former
acting governor, Adamu Fintiri through a Federal High Court
ruling that voided his emergence in the wake of Governor
Murtala Nyako’s impeachment.
Suntai made his second homecoming to Nigeria from his
medical vacation in London over a month ago amidst drama
and controversy but has not gone to his home state (Taraba).
Rather he has been reportedly confined to a private guest
house at Asokoro area of Abuja owned by General T.Y.
Danjuma, an elder statesman from Taraba.
Sunday Trust checks revealed that the pro-Suntai elements,
referred to as the ‘cabal’, have approached the impeached
former deputy governor, Alhaji Sani Abubakar Danladi who
had been fighting a legal battle against his impeachment to
work out a ‘political deal’ in anticipation of victory in his
lawsuit to reclaim his mandate, which is now awaiting a final
verdict at the Supreme Court on November 29.
The Taraba State House of Assembly had on September 4,
2012 impeached Suntai’s deputy, Alhaji Sani Abubakar
Danladi from office on grounds of gross misconduct. The
impeachment was sequel to the adoption of the
recommendation of a seven-member Judicial Commission of
Inquiry set up by the then acting Chief Judge, Justice
Josephine Tuktur to investigate allegations of gross
misconduct against the deputy governor.
The Commission had submitted its findings to the Assembly,
saying the deputy governor was found guilty of the three
allegations leveled against him. The report said Danladi had
used his office to divert Millennium Development Goals
(MDG) projects to Yagai Academy, a private school, which
belongs to him.
The report also stated that the erstwhile deputy governor
was guilty of using his office to influence the posting of an
officer and interfering in the affairs of his Karim-Lamido
Local Government Area to the extent that the communities
were complaining of the negative attitude of the said officer.
Following Danladi’s impeachment, Suntai appointed Alhaji
Garba Umar to succeed him as deputy Governor. Umar, a
former staff of UTC Company was later empowered by the
State House of Assembly to step into Suntai’s shoes as
acting governor following his (Suntai’s) involvement in the
near fatal crash of an aircraft he was piloting. Umar’s
emergence had created a sharp division in the state between
his loyalists and those of governor Suntai.
Danladi’s legal battles
However, his impeachment did not go unchallenged as
Danladi had gone to court challenging the process and
constitutionality of his ouster. Among other things, Danladi
had through his counsel filed a suit at the Taraba State High
Court in Jalingo challenging the competence of the then
acting Chief Judge of the state, Josephine Tukur who had
constituted the panel that investigated him arguing that she
had overstayed in office for three months.
Not satisfied with the verdict of the Jalingo High Court which
in March last year affirmed his impeachment by the State
House of Assembly, Danladi proceeded to the Federal Court
of Appeal in Yola to challenge the verdict. But in a unanimous
judgment on July 19, 2013, the five member justices of the
appellate court led by Justice Musa Abba Aji dismissed the
appeal by the impeached deputy governor on grounds that it
was lacking in merit. The court then upheld the judgment of
the Taraba State High Court which had ruled that the Taraba
State House of Assembly complied with Section 188 of the
1999 Constitution as amended in his impeachment process.
The embattled deputy governor then took his legal battle to
the Supreme Court which reserved judgment for November
29 this year.
The ‘deal’
The alleged move by the pro-Suntai loyalists to approach
Danladi to work out a ‘deal’ is said to have been predicated
on the probability of his victory by him at the Supreme
Court . Suntai was said to have promised to hand over power
to the zone after his tenure, a promise which the pro-Suntai
elements mostly from the zone see as being threatened by
the ambition of the acting governor, Umar who has already
obtained his nomination form to contest the PDP
governorship ticket.
Although the southern zone is already divided over the choice
of who becomes their ticket bearer for the 2015 governorship
election, the pro-Suntai elements are said to have seen Umar
as a ‘common enemy’ to their agitation for power shift,
hence the need to edge him out. Already there are two
candidates that have been separately ‘endorsed’ from the
zone to vie for the PDP ticket. While David Sabo Kente, a
former staff of the National Assembly was endorsed by
elders from the zone, former Minister of State for Niger Delta
Affairs, Darius Ishaku was recently endorsed in Abuja by
elder statesman, General T.Y. Danjuma.
It is based on the need to edge out Umar that the pro-Suntai
elements were said to have in the wake of the Federal High
Court ruling that voided the emergence of Ahmadu Fintiri as
Adamawa acting governor mooted the idea of approaching
the impeached Taraba deputy governor, Danladi to work out a
deal in anticipation of his victory at the Supreme Court ruling.
Under the deal, Danladi would in the event of being returned
as deputy governor take charge of affairs in the state pending
the conduct of the 2015 election, thereby stepping aside to
pave the way for Darius Ishaku to emerge as the preferred
choice of the ‘cabal’ from the southern zone in 2015
governorship election. Danladi, by the arrangement would not
seek election as governor in 2015 more- so that by the time
the judgment is delivered the sale of nomination forms would
have closed.
Former Taraba Information Commissioner, Emmanuel Bello
denied knowledge of any such arrangement with the
impeached former deputy governor. He however said they
were aware of Danladi’s case that was awaiting judgment at
the Supreme Court “but as law abiding people, we are going
to abide by the ruling”. Bello said he would not comment
further on the matter since it was still in court.
On his part, the former deputy governor, Danladi denied
entering into any political deal with anybody. “I am just
hearing this from you for the first time. All I know is that I
have been pursuing my case up to the Supreme Court where
judgment has been reserved for November 29, 2014”, he
said.