BRAIN DAMAGE: Suntai Unable To Recognize State Lawmakers Who Visited Him

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The severity of Governor Danbaba Suntai’s brain damage became obvious to the leadership of the Taraba State House of Assembly who visited him today, two of the legislators have revealed.

A surprise invitation was extended to the lawmakers to meet Mr. Suntai after a group of state legislators threatened to commence the ailing governor’s impeachment. One of the lawmakers who saw Mr. Suntai said the sudden invitation was designed to placate lawmakers.

The delegation of lawmakers was led by the speaker of the Taraba State Assembly, Haruna Tsokwa. Our sources revealed that the legislators met Mr. Suntai who was seated on a couch struggling to speak some words to the delegates. They disclosed that Mr. Suntai did not recognize any of the lawmakers. His speech was characterized as garbled, confused and mostly inaudible, according to one source. He added that, at one point, the brain-injured governor managed to say that one of them was his “big deputy.” The person he referred to then told Mr. Suntai that he was not his deputy.

Our sources added that the bizarre meeting convinced the assembly leadership that Mr. Suntai was incapable of running the state. They retreated to a meeting at the state assembly. The meeting ended and the lawmakers left without addressing the media, the promised to return to the chambers tomorrow.
Meanwhile, the cabal tied to Mr. Suntai that has sought to maneuver the sick governor back in office this evening carried out another charade by swearing in some so-called “newly appointed” government officials in the state. The alleged swearing-in took place at the governor’s dining room without any member of his executive council or security chiefs in attendance. There was no judicial officer in sight to administer the oath

Mr. Suntai was made to seat on one of the chairs and at a point given a paper to read. A witness said it was unclear what he tried to do with the paper, at a point he spoke a few words in Hausa but  for the rest of the event  his voice was inaudible throughout the charade.

Anambra Guber: Tukur’s Letter To Jega Stirs Controversy

A letter from the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Bamanga Tukur, to the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Attahiru Jega, appears to have stirred a fresh controversy as it concerns the party’s governorship primary in Anambra State.

Tukur’s letter, dated May 8, 2013, is an introductory correspondence to INEC notifying the commission of certain changes the PDP had effected and contains Ejike Oguebego as the Anambra State chairman of the party.

Meanwhile, the governorship primary of the PDP in Anambra State had produced two candidates, Andy Uba and Tony Nwoye, in two separate exercises conducted by two factions.

While Uba emerged victorious at the primary conducted by the INEC-backed Oguebego-led faction, Nwoye was elected by the Ken Emeakayi-led faction that has the support of the national leadership of the PDP. The Tukur-led National Working Committee (NWC) of the party has already confirmed Nwoye as the governorship candidate of the PDP.

But Tukur’s letter, entitled ‘Forwarding New Developments in the Composition of National Executive Committee (NEC) of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) reads as follows:

“In view of some important developments that led to changes in the executive officers of our party, I write to forward to you the list of our National Executive Committee (NEC) members, as attached, for your kind perusal and guidance.”

The letter, personally signed by Tukur , LEADERSHIP gathered, was part of the evidence Oguebego provided as proof before the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, when he approached the court to stop the Emeakayi faction of the PDP from presenting Nwoye as the governorship candidate of the party.

I want to see the letter – Tukur’ aide

But Tukur’s media assistant, Oliva Opala, when asked about his principal’s response,  said it was difficult for him to comment on the said letter since he did not have the opportunity to see the document.

He said, “For now, all I can tell you is that I cannot make a categorical statement or comment on that because the document you are talking about is not in my possession, neither is it available for me to sight;  if only you can do us a favour by bringing the letter to us so that we can know whether or not such a correspondence emanated from the national chairman of the PDP”.

Court orders INEC, PDP to accept Andy Uba

Meanwhile, the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt has ordered both the PDP and INEC to disregard the results of the ward and state congresses conducted by the Emeakayi-led faction of the party, and directed INEC and PDP to accept the candidacy of Dr Andy Uba.

In the suit instituted by Oguebego and Gilbert Okoye (as plaintiffs) in which they listed the PDP and INEC as first and second defendants respectively, Justice Hyeladzira  Nganjiwa ordered as follows:

“That the 1st and 2nd Defendants (PDP and INEC) are to accept the results that emerged from plaintiffs’ ward and state congresses, pending the hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice for Interlocutory Injunction to set aside the interim order

“That the 1st and 2nd Defendants are hereby restrained from accepting the wards and state congresses results from Ken Emeakayi-led PDP Executive from Anambra State pending the hearing and determination of the motion for interlocutory injunction and the motion to set aside the interim order made on the August 6, 2013.”

The case has been adjourned till Friday for ruling on the earlier order the court made on August 6, 2013.     

Uba shuns PDP as Nwoye gets certificate of return

The national leadership of the PDP yesterday handed its certificate of return for the Anambra governorship election to Nwoye just as Senator Uba did not appear before the party as ordered on Tuesday.

Ubah was invited alongside his brother - Chris,  Oguebego, Chief Benji Udeozor, Mrs. Tonia Nwankwu, but none of them showed up for the parley.

Speaking with journalists after receiving the certificate of return from the national chairman of the party, Nwoye described his emergence as an act of God.

He, further, said that INEC cannot stop him from contesting the election, noting that “it is the national chairman of the party and secretary that present a party’s candidate for an election. Once a party presents a candidate, INEC cannot object to it.”

APC to conduct primary in Anambra

Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress, APC,  has said that it will conduct governorship primary in Anambra State.

APC national secretary, Tijani Tumsah said the party’s primary will hold in Awka, the state capital on Monday next week.

This development has ended speculations that Senator Chris Ngige had been endorsed as the consensus candidate for the APC. Ngige will now face Tony Ezeemo who had earlier rejected the adoption of Ngige.

SUNTAI FIRES CABINET, MEETS SPEAKER

SUNTAI FIRES CABINET, MEETS SPEAKER

Gov Danbaba Suntai

.Ag gov says some people trying to foment trouble

The political situation in Taraba State remained dicey yesterday as officials held series of meetings to break the impasse created by the return of Governor Danbaba Suntai from a foreign medical trip on Sunday.
Suntai has not been seen in public since his return, after spending 10 months in Germany and the United States to treat injuries sustained in a plane crash in October last year.
On Tuesday, the State House of Assembly expressed doubt on if he was fit enough to take charge from Acting Governor Garba Umar, and therefore summoned him to brief lawmakers as a condition for allowing him to resume work.
But events took a swift turn yesterday, beginning with the announcement by the governor’s office of the dissolution of the state executive council, moments before the council was scheduled to hold a weekly meeting with the acting governor.
Suntai’s spokesman Sylvanus Giwa, who announced the sack of the cabinet, said also a new secretary to the state government and a chief of staff in the Government House were appointed.
He said the cabinet dissolution affects all commissioners and special advisers but not special assistants.
On whether Suntai was fit enough to administer the state, Giwa responded in the affirmative.
Soon after this, the acting governor’s office held a news conference where it said some people were trying to foment trouble in the state.
Umar’s spokesman Kefas Sule, who addressed journalists on behalf of the acting governor, said Umar and other major political stakeholders were working to resolve the impasse.
He said that the state executive council was worried that some individuals were bent on fomenting trouble in the state, and urged the people to continue with their normal activities.
Following the announcement of the dissolution of the cabinet, journalists gathered at the State House of Assembly to see if lawmakers would take stand on the latest developments.
The House leadership promised to brief reporters on their position. But many hours after, deputy majority leader Josiah Sabo Kente informed journalists at about 8pm that there would be no further briefing until today.
Daily Trust learnt that the leadership had moments earlier been given access to Suntai at the Government House. On Tuesday, Speaker Haruna Tsokwa had said they were blocked from seeing the governor by a cabal who wanted to run the state by proxy.
Reporters were not allowed to cover the meeting between the lawmakers and Suntai yesterday.
Earlier, footage aired on state television showed the swearing-in ceremony of the newly appointed Secretary to the State Government, Gebon Timothy Kataps, and Chief of Staff, Malam Aminu Jika, at the Government House.
The footage showed Suntai reading a script, in which he thanked the people of the state for their prayers and urged them to continue to pray for him. He also congratulated them on the 22nd anniversary of the creation of the state.
Only a cameraman of the state television was allowed to cover the swearing-in ceremony and he later played the clip to reporters.
A similar scenario happened on Monday when Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State visited Suntai, during which only two cameramen—one each from Taraba and Adamawa state television stations—were allowed to cover the visit.
A senior Taraba official yesterday told Daily Trust what actually happened on Monday afternoon during Nyako’s visit. He said Nyako and his entourage were received in the ground floor sitting room of the Government House by Mrs Hauwa Suntai, who made a long welcoming speech.
The source said afterwards, after much hesitation, Mrs Suntai invited Nyako to go upstairs and see Suntai, and the Adamawa governor beckoned to his deputy Bala Ngilari to follow him.
Other members of Nyako’s entourage including the Secretary to the Adamawa State Government were not allowed to see Suntai.
The source added that television pictures shown that night of the visit were misleading because they gave the impression that Suntai received the entire Adamawa delegation. A clip from Nyako’s brief audience upstairs was cleverly grafted into a clip of the general audience that took place downstairs to give that impression, the source said.
Another security official who saw Suntai during the brief appearances said the governor is able to respond when someone greets him, but does not say more than that.
But chairman of the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Mr. Victor Bala Kona said he spoke with the governor and even discussed plans for the party’s national convention coming up in Abuja on Saturday. He told the BBC Hausa radio last night that Suntai would soon address the public when he completed his “rest” after a long trip back from the United States.
Before the cabinet sack was announced, Attorney General Kataps, who is now the SSG, said it was wrong for the House Speaker to invite Suntai to appear before the House.
Kataps told journalists that the constitution stipulates that the governor only needed to transmit a letter to the House, to inform lawmakers of his return.
“When the executive governor transmits a letter to the House of Assembly, every other thing reverts back to the status quo ante and the governor has resumed office as the executive governor of the state,” he said.
When asked about the health status and ability of the governor to perform his duties, Kataps said he would not comment on that because of pending court cases on the matter
.

PDP Crisis: Clashes Between Jonathan And Obasanjo Escalate Over Andy Uba’s Rejection

The recent confrontation between the former and the current presidents, Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan, seems to be escalating after the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rejected the Anambra State governorship primary that produced a former aide to Obasanjo, Senator Andy Uba, as the party’s candidate for the November 16 governorship election in the state.

Not long ago, the former president had sought Jonathan’s support for Senator Uba in the run-up to the PDP nomination date, after what Obasanjo joined the crisis between the President and some governors elected on the platform of the PDP two weeks ago.

But, the PDP national Chairman Bamanga Tukur confirmed Mr. Tony Nwoye as the party's candidate. The party's leadership also condemned the parallel primary and rejected Uba's candidacy.

However, it has been revealed, that Obasanjo is angry as he was said to have questioned what Nwoye possessed that was lacking in Uba.

“We are watching where the action of the PDP leadership would lead us. We begin to wonder why they would have a preference for a youth leader and why they would reject the man who had won the same governorship poll for our party before the court terminated his mandate, and who is now a serving senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria."
“From all indications, if the party fails to reverse itself, then the outcome of that November 16, 2013 election in Anambra has been decided by them,” a political follower of Obasanjo told Leadership's correspondent."

The source recalled the efforts made by Senator Uba in the ongoing reconciliation between Jonathan and the ex-president and called on the chairman of the Board of Trustees of the party, Chief Tony Anenih, to intervene quickly before it is too late for the party:

“It is our hope that Chief Anenih would stop this drift before it would be too late; we wonder why these people would never see anything good in Baba Obasanjo and yet they run to him in the cover of the night asking him to help them to come out of their self-inflicted crises. “Mark my words, PDP would never win that poll with that boy as PDP’s candidate.”

Meanwhile, both the presidency and the former president have denied that they were on a collision course over the choice of PDP candidate for the Anambra election.

It will be reminded, that the parallel primaries took place on 24 August 2013. The PDP disapproved the primary held by the faction chaired by Ejike Oguebeogu and recognized by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), where Mr. Uba was elected as its governorship candidate. After that, PDP summoned Uba to appear before a disciplinary panel to "show cause why disciplinary action should not be taken against them.” Senator will be joined by his brother Chris and three other party leaders in Anambra, Ejike Oguebego, Benji Udeozor, and Tonia Nwankwu. They are to appear before the National Working Committee (NWC) for a preliminary hearing at the PDP National Secretariat at Wuse Zone 5, Abuja on Wednesday, August 28, at 10 am.