The Acting Governor of Taraba State, Alhaji Garba Umar, on Friday held a meeting with the state security council with all the principal officers sacked by Governor Danbaba Suntai in attendance.
Saturday Punch learnt that the meeting which took place at the Council Chambers of the Governor's office in Jalingo, was attended by the State Police Commissioner, the Director of State Security Service, the sacked Secretary to State Government, Alhaji Ahmed Yusuf, and Chief of Staff, Mr. Garvey Yawe, among others.
Though details of the meeting were not made public, sources said that the meeting lasted less than 10 minutes, adding that the new SSG and Chief of Staff recently inaugurated by Suntai were absent.
Umar was said to have left his official office some few metres away from the office of the governor to hold the meeting at the council chambers of the governor's office.
The meeting coincides with calls from five out of the nine members of the National Assembly from Taraba State on Umar to continue to run the state's affairs as the acting governor. The lawmakers included a senator, Abubakar Umar-Tutare and four members of the House of Representatives.
According to the lawmakers, Umar is to run the state until the ailing Governor, Mr. Danbaba Suntai, is "convincingly fit to steer the affairs of the state."
The four House members are the Chief Whip, Mr. Ishaka Bawa; Chairman, House Committee on Electoral Matters, Mr. Jerry Manwe; a former Secretary to the Government of Taraba State, Mr. Ibrahim El-Sudi; and Mr. Aminu Ibrahim-Malle.
However, Manwe did not attend a news conference in Abuja on Friday where the lawmakers made their position known to the public, though he was listed as one of those who signed the text.
But, the lawmakers clarified that Suntai "remains the undisputed Executive Governor of Taraba State."
The lawmakers condemned the moves by contending forces in the state to blow Suntai's health status out of proportion and throw the state into chaos in the process.
They said what the state needed at the moment was peace and prayers for the speedy recovery of the governor as against the current struggle for power by those they called "political gladiators."
The group commended the state House of Assembly for being "bold, gallant, resolute and patriotic" in deciding that Umar should continue to run the affairs of the state.
The lawmakers stated though Suntai transmitted a letter to the House of Assembly saying that he was fit to work, the assembly was unable to confirm whether it was the governor who wrote the letter or someone else did.
They argued that due to the controversy generated by his health condition, the assembly should have the opportunity of verifying whether Suntai wrote the letter by way of direct contact or public defence by the governor.
Part of the text of the conference, which was read by Senator Umar-Tature, states, "That His Excellency, Danbaba Danfulani Suntai, is and remains the undisputed Executive Governor of Taraba State.
While calling of elder statesmen in the state to intervene and resolve the brewing crisis amicably, the lawmakers appealed to outsiders to stop interfering with the affairs of Taraba State.
The lawmakers said that elder statesmen and highly placed persons from Taraba State should as a matter of urgency proffer solutions to the present political logjam and impasse in the state..
Saturday Punch learnt that the Presidency had summoned all the dramatis personae in the Taraba imbroglio to Abuja to prevent the situation from developing into a major political crisis.
The meeting was said to be at the instance of a senior citizen of the state who once held sway in the military.
It was also gathered that only three out of the former commissioners in the state heeded the directive of Suntai to hand over to the permanent secretaries of their respective ministries.
Meanwhile, the Chief Press Secretary to Umar, Mr. Kefas Sule, has explained that his boss still holds an unflinching loyalty to Suntai.
Sule, who spoke to Saturday Punch in Jalingo on Friday, said that all that Umar was asking for was a directive from the State House of Assembly, that gave him the mandate to act, to revert to his former position.
The CPS said that the problem in the state was the handiwork of some fifth columnists, who were acting out of some selfish interests.
Punch
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