He passed through this road before. But we seem not to have learnt any lesson from what happened then. The country faced a constitutional crisis following the late President Umaru Yar’Adua’s long absence from home, leaving the ship of state rudderless. We had a vice president in person of Dr Goodluck Jonathan, but the late Yar’Adua crowd did everything to stop him from acting for his boss.
And they found a justifiable ground for their position in the Constitution. Now, we are travelling the same road again, with Taraba State Governor Danbaba Suntai taking a somewhat forced leave of absence from work following his plane crash on October 25. The only difference this time around is that the issue is restricted to the tiny state of Taraba. But treating it regionally instead of nationally will be taking a myopic view of the issue.
The issue at stake is the same as that of 2010 when the late Yar’Adua left home in a hurry and did not return until about six months later in the heat of the constitutional crisis caused by his absence. Now, Suntai too has left his state for treatment in Germany just as the late Yar’Adua went to Saudi Arabia late in 2009 and did not return until May 2010. For now, we don’t know when Suntai will return. This, I daresay, is the crux of the matter.
When will Suntai, who was flown out on October 27, return? When he returns will he be medically fit to return to work? Should his absence lead to a vacuum at the Government House, Jalingo? For how long can a governor be away on medical treatment before his office can be declared vacant? All these questions have become necessary because of the political bent his absence seems to be taken. Remember, this was how the Yar’Adua case went until providence intervened.
With the Yar’Adua case still fresh in mind, we need to do things the way they should be done before the Taraba matter becomes something else. Right now, we are all pretending that everything is normal, when we know that they are far from being normal. It is almost two weeks now that Suntai left the country and there is no way that by now there are no matters calling for his attention.
As we all know, in his present condition, Suntai cannot attend to state matters. The most important matter he can attend to for now is his health, which should also be of utmost concern to all those who truly love him. As we pray for his speedy recovery and await his return home, one thing, however, cannot wait and that is governance. The government of Taraba must continue to run with or without Suntai.
Governance cannot pack up all because Suntai was involved in a plane crash. We thank God that he is alive. What if he had died in the crash? Won’t his deputy have been sworn in by now as governor? We should not be sentimental about this issue at all. What has happened has happened. We cannot close down Taraba because of this unfortunate incident as some people are suggesting. For how long will we have to wait for Suntai to get well in order to return to office?
The Constitution, which foresaw a situation like this, unfortunately did not make clear-cut provisions for a deputy governor to take charge immediately the governor is indisposed. This is the lacuna the supporters of Suntai are exploiting to stop the deputy governor, Alhaji Garba Umar, from taking charge.
The framers of our Constitu
tion, in their wisdom, did all
they could to prevent a vacuum in the absence of the president or a governor, but our politicians have devised a way of circumventing the constitutional provision on this issue.
With what we saw in the Yar’Adua case and what is about to happen in Taraba, we need to take a look at Sections 144 and 189 of the Constitution in order to stop political hyenas from reaping from where they did not sow. When the late Yar’Adua was away for months, these political interlopers seized power from the righful person, the then Vice President Jonathan, turning him into a sissy in his own administration. Then, the National Assembly through the Doctrine of Necessity, saved the day.
With that, we can say we have a precedent to fall on to avert the brewing constitutional crisis in Taraba. As is often the case, the crisis is instigated by those who believe that by their action, they are being loyal to Suntai. Others are doing it for the fear of the unknown. They don’t know whether the governor will survive or not and as such they don’t want to be caught on the wrong side if he pulls through.
The issue is beyond Suntai or even any one of us. The question we should ask ourselves is this : is it proper for a state to be without its duly elected governor for 13 days, the number of days that Suntai has been out of the country as at today, counting from October 27? This is where I think the Constitution did not do well. But we cannot blame the framers for this, rather we should blame our politicians, who are always looking for a loophole in any thing in order to have their way.
The loophole they are cashing in on can be found in Section 189, which similar provision in Section 144, the Yar’Adua clique used for long to stop Jonathan from coming to office in 2010. Section 189 reads : The governor or deputy governor of a state shall cease to hold office if – (a) by a resolution passed by two-thirds majority of all members of the executive council of the state, it is declared that the governor or deputy governor is incapable of discharging the functions of his office; and (b) the declaration in paragraph (a) of this subsection is verified, after such medical examination as may be necessary, by a medical panel established under subsection (4) of this section in its report to the speaker of the House of Assembly’’.
With this provision, Suntai can stay in Germany for as long as he wishes because neither the Taraba State Executive Council nor the House of Assembly will initiate such a move. Who will bell the cat?
This is a long shot, but having seen what happened in the Yar’Adua case, let all men of goodwill appeal to the good conscience of the executive council members and the lawmakers to do what is necessary. It will be in the best interest of their state to allow Suntai’s deputy to step in, pending the governor’s return from his medical trip.
Making Umar acting governor will not detract from the fact that Suntai is the governor because it is not an impeachment. It is better to have an acting governor in place rather than leave the state without a constitutionally recognised leader as it is now.
Doing this will not amount to disloyalty to Suntai because his supporters will be doing him a world of good in his most trying moment.
While at this, let me quickly submit that the planned Constitution review will be incomplete if nothing is done about Sections 144 and 189. It is time these sections were amended to state specifically how long the President or a governor can be away before the vice president or deputy governor steps into their shoes in acting capacity. I will go for seven days.
If this issue is not factored in, then I am sorry to say, we are not serious about amending the Constitution. We cannot afford to keep quiet over this sensitive issue after seeing what happened in 2010 and the lie now being led in Taraba.
