7th January, 2013
Apart from the power plays that are consequent upon the illnesses of the governors of Taraba, Cross River and Enugu states, their domains suffer the effect of their absence, report Jethro Ibileke, Emma Una and Ben Adaji
The photograph of Governor Danbaba Danfulani Suntai of Taraba State, published by major newspapers on 2 January 2013, has been generating acrimonious debates. It showed the governor, who flew the plane that crashed on 25 October in Yola, Adamawa State; his wife, Hauwa (the two, holding their new set of twins) and a family friend, Prince Tita Nbalam, in a cafeteria at a German hospital. While the governor’s image makers have been shouting themselves hoarse that the photograph was a correct representation of Suntai, many critics swore that it was a computer manipulation, meant to drive home the message that Suntai is as fit as a fiddle to govern and that he would soon return home to steer the ship of the state.
The argument about which of the two sides is right or wrong has assumed a political life of its own, throwing up the appropriateness or otherwise of appointing an acting governor. The political undercurrents that have, of late, thrown Taraba into public consciousness are also active in Cross River and Enugu states, where Governors Liyel Imoke and Sullivan Chime have not been seen for months. And the trouble is that their absence has created a semblance of power vacuum, affecting the pace of service delivery.
Taraba
To say that government activities have remained grounded in Taraba State since the plane crash involving Suntai and three of his aides may be an understatement. In Jalingo, the state capital, business activities remain normal, but all government offices, including Government House, remain sepulchral, even during working hours. On normal working days, workers prefer to stay at home for lack of schedules, while senior government officials operate from their hideouts to avoid being pestered by those that may be in need of their favour.
Perhaps, what is more disturbing to people of the state today is the true position of Suntai’s health. The people appear to be tired of conflicting stories on the true state of the governor’s health. Thus, the question by most people in the state demanding for answer now is: “When is the Governor coming back to the state?” Emmanuel Bello, Taraba State Commissioner for Information, has been “managing” the information in ways that generate dust. Through the media, Bello has been offering assurances that things are looking up for Suntai on his hospital bed in Germany.
Those that have visited Suntai in Germany, including the Presidential Committee, led by the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, President, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor; Senate Committee, led by Senate President, David Mark; and Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue State hold that Suntai was in critical condition. Some are of the view that even if Suntai is discharged, he may not be fit to continue in office as governor.
What is more worrisome to the people of the state is knowing who actually is currently running the state in the midst of the confusion? Understandably, the acting governor, Alhaji Garba Umar, was brought in, following the impeachment of former deputy governor, Alhaji Danladi Sani Abubakar, barely three weeks before Suntai’s accident. The acting governor was not a well-known politician and, therefore, not a visible member of any political camp in the state. Developments are pointing towards the emergence of two different cliques in the state. One is allegedly headed by Senator Emmanuel Bwacha, representing Taraba Southern Senatorial District. Others in the group are Istifanus Gbana, Speaker of the House of Assembly; his deputy, Peter Abel Diah; Mark Useni, a member of the House; and the state Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Victor Bala Kona. The group is alleged to have usurped the powers of the acting governor and has been imposing some unpopular decisions on him.
One of such decisions, as pointed out by Mr. Dominic Francis, a strong PDP supporter from Sardauna Local Government, was the appointment of the chief of Mambilla, a community in the Sardauna Local Government Area. The chieftaincy issue has been in dispute for more than 10 years. Many, including Francis, criticised the appointment of the chief at the time of the governor’s illness, even when negotiated conditions for it by various interested parties were discarded. The group is accused of painting a colourful picture of Suntai’s health to discourage the acting governor from taking independent decisions. It is also alleged to be desperate to ensure that Bwacha, who is working hard to succeed Suntai in 2015, takes control of the affairs of the state. The Bwacha-led cabal is not leaving anything to chance; his critics say he has succeeded in turning Umar into a mere spectator.
The second cabal is said to be headed by Secretary to the State Government, Ambassador Emmanuel Njuwa. Members of his entourage are Alhaji Aminu Babale, Personal Assistant to Suntai on Domestic Affairs; the Permanent Secretary, Government House Affairs, Orkuma Nev; and some senior officers at the Ministry of Finance. The group is believed to be collaborating with the Bwacha group. This second cabal, according to sources, is in control of the finances of Taraba, claiming to be acting according to Suntai’s standing order. But the acting governor is said to be dissatisfied with this arrangement and has directed the Permanent Secretary, Government House, and Babale to produce the document giving them control.
TheNEWS gathered that about three weeks ago, the acting governor indicated interest in restoring monthly running costs to all ministries, parastatals and agencies, which have been denied of such for over three years. The situation has virtually grounded government business in the state. “The acting governor has been frustrated, as he was not allowed to approve or release funds for any development without recourse to state Assembly leaders and other members of the cabal,” said an aide to the acting governor.
The cabal is said to have stoked rivalry among politicians on the pretext it is acting on Suntai instructions. It was gathered that the acting governor was, a few weeks ago, misadvised by the cabal to sack some political appointees for attending a wedding reception organised by Senator Aisha Jummai Alhassan in honour of the daughter of the former state PDP chairman, Alhaji Abdulmumini Vaki, in Abuja. The group was said to have drafted names of the political appointees and taken them to the acting governor for approval even when he did not know them.
Abel Peter Diah, Deputy Speaker of the Taraba State House of Assembly, denied knowledge of any cabal in the state. Diah told TheNEWS on phone that Suntai’s health was improving and he would soon return to the state. He added that the House is not under pressure, as it has been discharging its constitutional responsibilities efficiently.
Alhaji Hamidu Suleiman, Chairman, Conference of Political Parties in the state, has described the situation as unfortunate. He said it was disheartening that some individuals have been confusing the people on the position of the governor’s health. “You hear this today and hear that tomorrow. Some will go to Abuja and sit in their hotels only to come back and tell us that they went to Germany, saw and even ate with the governor,” he said. Suleiman added that the people would be pleased to see Suntai return to the state, but warned those spreading false information about his health to desist from doing so. According to Suleiman, the constitution has given the Assembly the power to constitute a five-man team of medical experts, including the governor’s personal physician, to look at his health condition and determine whether or not he is incapacitated or not. “We are watching the lawmakers with keen interest to see when they would invoke that section of the constitution if it becomes necessary,” he added.
Another dimension was added to the drama last week with the photograph of Suntai, his wife and their new set of twins while in Germany. In the photograph, Suntai carried one of the babies, while his wife carried the other. This picture graced the front pages of many newspapers.
Critics say the photograph of Suntai purportedly holding one of the twins his wife was recently delivered of was a computer trick to further con the public into thinking that he has improved. Skeptics claim that the head in the picture was from an old picture of Suntai, while the body on which it sat is that of a close friend of the governor, Alhaji Aliyu Umar.
A Jalingo politician, Alhaji Umar Jalingo, challenged the governor’s aides to make a video recording of Suntai while talking and post it to the Internet for everybody to view. The photograph was also posted on the Internet. In a response, critics of government also posted on the web a write-up entitled “Governor Suntai And Traumatic Brain Injury” by Stella Oritsejemite, a USA-based advance trauma specialist. Oritsemeje argued in the piece that Suntai might have suffered a closed head injury that could render him incapacitated.
Cross River
The terse press statement dated 6 December 2012 from Mr. Christian Ita, spokesman to Governor Liyel Imoke of Cross River State, stated that his principal, who had been working tirelessly for several years without rest, had proceeded on vacation. This did not make reference to his ill-health or personal challenges.
“Governor Liyel Imoke yesterday proceeded on a two-month accumulated leave,” read the statement. Ita, who did not indicate where Imoke was spending his “accumulated leave” or when he would resume duties, tritely added that Imoke had communicated his decision to the state House of Assembly through a letter to the Speaker, Larry Odey. Imoke’s deputy, Efiok Cobham, the media aide said, would act in his place for the duration of the leave in line with the provisions of the constitution.
The statement came three weeks after the governor had been out of the state. His last public appearance was on 12 November 2012 at the COLARO Palm Estate in Akamkpa, a suburb of Calabar, the state capital.
Ita’s statement was meant to squelch a rumour spreading that “our governor is terribly sick and has been flown abroad”. However, rather than kill the rumour, the statement only served to exacerbate it. A week after, the rumour advanced to “death of the governor in an American hospital”.
As the rumour spread, Ita threatened to take legal action over publication of the speculation. When contacted by this magazine, he came out with another statement. “Three weeks ago, His Excellency took a short break after a long, hectic and eventful year, all preparatory to the start of the busy Calabar festival season. He used the opportunity to undergo medicals and in so doing, was advised by his doctors to undergo further medical evaluation,” the statement read.
That went to confirm the fact that the governor was actually sick, but in the usual character of Nigerian government functionaries, the news had deliberately been kept away from the people.
The confused state of affairs and the death rumour had prompted Imoke himself to post on his Facebook page that he was not dead and extended his “gratitude for the concern, kind words and messages”. He assured the people: “I am well, very well and in good health and spirit. One can’t continuously cheat nature, especially working at the punishing pace we do. It’s probably been eight to 10 years or more without a break or a decent vacation. I truly needed to take this time off. Thankfully, we are unified in our approach to governance so there’s continuity, which is important. Best regards.”
His statement, which did not state his type of ailment or the hospital where he is being treated, sparked another round of rumours. While some said he had a heart transplant surgery in an American hospital, others stated he went for renal surgery, still in the same hospital. Even when Professor Ben Ayade, the senator representing Cross River North, revealed to an online publication, Cross River Watch, that he had visited Imoke at the hospital, he did not reveal the nature of Imoke’s illness.
His absence has created a yawning vacuum as his deputy, though addressed as acting governor, is biding his time not to “overact”.
Consequently, most governance is in snooze mode. But for the Calabar Carnival, everywhere in the state was like a ghost town. Winners of the annual Obudu Mountain Race had to wait for over a month before their cheques for the monetary prizes they won were handed over to them. Road construction and school renovation, which Imoke is assumed to be passionate about, have been suspended along with other financial releases which often have to be endorsed personally by Imoke. TheNEWS overheard a commissioner in the state tell a contractor: “You have to wait until the governor comes back to sign my request for funds for the completion of the projects. If His Excellency (Imoke) was around, the money would have been released by now, but mails are moving at a snail speed with the deputy. You just have to wait.”
But the waiting may be long, as it is not known when the governor is scheduled to return to his desk. Ita, who has since proceeded on leave, would not hazard a guess, leaving the field open for rumour mongers. While some say he is returning early in February, some say April is more feasible, as he needs time to recover from a “heart transplant operation”.
Enugu
Sullivan Chime, Governor of Enugu State was last seen in the state on 19 September 2012, after he presided over the Executive Council meeting. It was revealed that he officially handed over the mantle of leadership to his deputy, Sunday Onyebuchi, and transmitted a letter to the House of Assembly to that effect. The reason for this, according to government officials, was that the governor was long overdue for his annual leave and so jetted out to an unknown country to get the much-needed rest he had not enjoyed for the past five years he has been governor.
Not long after his departure, rumours about Chime’s ill-health began to fly in the state. While the nature of his illness remains unclear, some say he is suffering from an unknown but life-threatening ailment, and that he is being conveyed from one country to the other in search of cure. The development became worrisome when the “accumulated annual vacation” embarked upon appeared endless. At a point, a rumour in some sections of the press even had it that he had died.
The continued silence of the state government on the issue has continued to generate tension. To many residents of Enugu, the state is close to a total standstill as far as governance is concerned. Till date, no one is sure of the whereabouts of Chime. To them, only those in government can believe their own explanation that the governor is on vacation.
Citizens of the state have not been happy with Chime’s absence for about 15 weeks. It was obvious that the title of the 3 December 2012 edition of this magazine, ‘Anger, Anxiety Over Enugu Governor’, is a true reflection of the feelings of the people of Enugu State over Chime’s disappearance.
Worse still, rumours and counter-rumours about Chime allegedly battling with a life-threatening illness at an undisclosed hospital somewhere in Europe pervade the state. Even children are aware that all is not well with their governor. Rumour of his purported death has been carried in some sections of the press. This has, however, been dispelled.
Ebere Samson, a resident of Enugu, who described the situation as “vexatious”, and others who responded to questions by the magazine, expressed anger and disappointment at the state government for taking them for granted. Ebere said: “It is very, very annoying. What do they take us for? Our governor is sick, seriously sick, and they are hiding him from us? Do they think we are not aware of what is happening? We are not fooled at all. We voted him into power, so he is responsible to us, no matter what. Afterall he is not a superhuman that he cannot succumb to illness. So why are they hiding him? Enough of this hide-and-seek game. They should come out with a clear statement about our governor and his state of health. We know he is not well. They should say something.”
Comrade Osmond Ugu, Chairman, Enugu State Workers’ Forum, said: “How do you justify the fact that for over three months, the state governor has left the state and nobody knows anything about him or his whereabouts? The worse development is that democracy is being impeded seriously here, because the worst thing that happens here is the situation whereby the people are cordoned off from accessing information about what is going on.”
To Ugu, the problem is compounded by what he called “two dangerous elements of selfishness and apathy”. In his words: “All our political leaders, both the past and present ones, are selfish. It is only when a matter concerns their personal interest that they will show concern. None of them takes what is going on in Enugu State as something to worry about. Everybody is in his own home because they have the money to take care of their own family. So, it doesn’t bother them whether the apparatus of the government is working or not. But if the government has taken an action that affects their political or economic interest, they would try to use their boys, or speak to the media, as if they are against the government, because their interest is directly affected. But when it has to do with issues that affects the common masses, nobody talks.”
He added that there is apathy on the part of the people and civil society groups, because they are afraid of what might happen to them. “They are afraid of police brutality. In fact, they are afraid of whether they will use their thugs to deal with them,” he said.
Ugu maintained Chime’s absence is affecting the machinery of government. “Except for the recent budget presented to the House of Assembly, nobody has heard anything from the government. If the executive committee that takes policy decisions does not sit, it affects virtually every aspect of governance. It affects the security, it affects the welfare of the people, it affects virtually everything that is going on in the state,” he remarked.
A section of residents of Enugu State opined that opposition parties in the state are not alive to their responsibility. A lecturer in the Enugu State University of Science and Technology accused opposition parties of succumbing to the dictates of the ruling party. “Is there any opposition party in the state? To me, I will say no. In a state where the opposition is up and doing, the government gets serious and can never take its citizens for granted as the case is today in Enugu. If the other political parties are truly in opposition, the government should have by now come out to tell us where Chime is. But they have all been compromised. That is why none of them has come out to challenge government and the lawmakers on the whereabouts of the governor. When we heard that Chime was dead, I was expecting them to go to court to compel the government to tell us where our governor is, but none of them seems to be concerned. I want to believe that they have been settled,” he declared.
A top civil servant, who does not want his name mentioned, echoed the same sentiment. “I have nothing against the governor. But I am of the opinion that if something is wrong with him, we deserve to know. Our votes put him in office, so he is accountable to us,” he said.
Adam Ani, Chairman of the Enugu State chapter of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties, CNPP, while believing that the acting governor is “perfectly in charge” of affairs, expressed concern about Chime’s continued absence.
A newspaper has reported that there might be moves by the state legislature to impeach the governor because members “are infuriated by the fact that the much they know about their governor is that he transmitted a letter informing them that he would be away for only six weeks”.
Last Monday, as the governor’s absence lingered into the new year, the PDP leadership in the state asked party faithful and residents of the state to offer special prayers for peace, unity and progress in the state.
The PDP, in a statement signed by the state Chairman, Mr. Vita Abba, thanked residents for their support in the quest to transform the state, while also urging them to use the period of the New Year celebrations to engage in serious prayers, especially for Chime.
The deputy governor, Sunday Onyebuchi, acting as governor, has ensured that activities of government continue unhindered.
…This article was originally published in TheNEWS magazine of 14 January 2013, with the title, ‘Absentee Governors’