The Presidency on Friday said President
Goodluck Jonathan would not interfere in the crisis currently rocking
Taraba State, which resulted from the attempt by Governor Danbaba Suntai
to return to office.
Special Adviser to the President on
Political Matters, Ahmed Gulak, said this in an exclusive interview with
one of our correspondents.
The crisis in the state started when
Suntai returned to the country after spending about 10 months abroad
where he received treatment following his October 25, 2012, plane crash.
The move by those in his camp to take
over from his deputy, Garba Umar, who served as acting governor in his
absence, had so far been resisted by some members of the state House of
Assembly. They insisted that the ailing governor must return to the
United States to continue his treatment.
Gulak told one of our correspondents
that Jonathan’s decision not to interfere in the matter was not an act
of negligence but respect for the rule of law and the country’s
constitution.
He said the country was running
federalism and each state of the federation had constitutional organs to
resolve such impasse without external interference.
He said the President would not want to be dragged into the matter.
While saying the state House of Assembly
is the appropriate constitutional organ that should resolve the crisis,
the presidential aide added that the national leadership of the ruling
Peoples Democratic Party could also consider initiating what he
described as a political solution to the impasse.
He said, “What Nigerians should
appreciate is that we are operating federalism. Each state of the
federation has constitutional organs saddled with the responsibility of
solving such impasse.
“Taraba State, like any other state of
the federation, has the legislature and the judiciary that are capable
of resolving the crisis.
“President Jonathan cannot wade into the crisis in the state. The country’s constitution has taken care of that.
“The President does not want to be
dragged into that issue that has religious and political colouration.
President Jonathan has been rightly advised on this matter. It is not
negligence, it is simply respect for the rule of law.
“We have constitutional organs to deal
with the situation. The House of Assembly is the appropriate organ that
can resolve it. There is also the option of political solution.
“As part of a political solution, the
party at the national level can initiate moves following which the
assembly and judiciary will solve it.”
Meanwhile, the former Commissioner for
Information in Taraba State, Mr. Emmanuel Bello, has asked the National
Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party, Bamanga Tukur, to be guided
on the constitution while commenting on the political crisis in the
state.
He said Suntai was fully in charge of affairs in Taraba state and was not ruling by proxy.
Tukur was recently quoted as saying that
Taraba State could be governed by proxy, an apparent reference to aides
of the ailing Suntai, who brought him back to the state.
Bello, in a statement in Jalingo on
Saturday, said it was clear that the Speaker of the Taraba State House
of Assembly was acting outside the constitution when he rejected
Suntai’s letter to resume duties after the medical treatment.
The statement read, “Bamanga should
respect the constitution as he wades into the Taraba crisis and he must
make the nation’s constitution as his guide.
“Our country is guided by the
constitution and we cannot afford to be lawless; the people perpetrating
illegality are those saying they have no regard for the constitution.
“The Speaker of the Taraba State House
of Assembly, Haruna Tsokwa, has said he is not interested in what the
constitution says. In rejecting Suntai’s letter, he kept saying ‘as far
as I am concerned’. He is not interested in the constitution as he is
entrenching a strange thing in our national life. I believe he hasn’t
read the constitution and if he has, he does not understand its
provisions.”
He added, “Tukur should enforce the
provisions of the constitution as it relates to the Taraba debacle. If
Tukur takes sides in the ongoing imbroglio, we shall vehemently resist
him.”
In another development, human rights
lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, has approached a court to compel the
Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar, and the Taraba State
House of Assembly to investigate the true source of the letter sent to
the state legislature, seeking the approval of the lawmakers for Suntai
to resume duty.
Falana, in an interview with our
correspondent, said he was compelled to file a suit after the police
allegedly refused to respond to his call for a probe into the
transmission of the letter before the ultimatum expired.
He said, “The ultimatum expired last
Thursday. We have since gone to court, seeking for an Order of Mandamus
to compel the Police to investigate the alleged forgery. As it was filed
on Friday, the case has yet to be assigned and fixed for hearing
“I also wrote to the Taraba State House
of Assembly, asking for an investigation by a committee to determine
whether the governor actually transmitted the letter or it was done by
proxy.”
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria said
notwithstanding the resolution of the House on the matter, he would
insist on investigating the letter to discourage treasonable acts.
“I am going ahead to challenge the
impunity of the coup plotters in Taraba State. The so-called cabal got
away with treason when they hijacked power, while the late President
Umar YarÁdua was in coma.
“In that state, the President was
alleged to have signed the supplementary budget of the country. Such
brazen aberrations have got to stop.”
He noted that his letter to the IGP was
to know whether the police would investigate his complaint. He added
that he only went to court when he did not get a written response from
Abubakar.
He said, “Events cannot overshadow
treasonable acts of coup plotters. A cabinet of a state was dissolved
and appointments were made purportedly by the ailing governor. Are the
so called new political appointees not parading themselves in the state?
“We just cannot continue to run Nigeria
as a failed state. Some have questioned my interference in the Taraba
political debacle. When the suicidal crash occurred and only the
governor was flown abroad, I cried foul.”
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