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Tag: Garba Umar

  • Sacked Taraba acting governor may be probed

    Sacked Taraba acting governor may be probed

    Sacked Taraba State Acting Governor Garba Umar may be probed, it was learnt at the weekend.

    Some principal officers in his ousted administration are also to be investigated.

    A source said yesterday reinstated Deputy Governor Abubakar Sani Danladi, who is now the acting governor, is setting up a “Probe and Recovery Commission in seven days to recover all that was plundered”.

    “The commission is to probe how the Garba Umar administration managed the billions of naira accruing to the state during his tenure.

    “It will also confiscate all property (buildings and vehicles) illegally bought with the state’s funds,” our source said.

    Umar’s whereabouts since Friday remain unknown. His loyalists are also said to have gone into hiding.

    “We petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) about the state of the economy in Taraba before he was sacked by the Supreme Court on Friday,” the source added.

    Umar was acting governor between November 14, 2012 and November 21, 2014 when he was removed by the Supreme Court on grounds that the process leading to the impeachment of Danladi by the House of Assembly on October 4, 2012 (for alleged gross misconduct) was unconstitutional.

    The possible areas to be probed include the Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, the Subsidy Reinvestment Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) funds and the N10 billion loan obtained under Umar’s administration.

    The commission will also investigate why payments of salaries were delayed and paid via bank overdrafts.

    It will examine the reasons state and local government projects started by Governor Danbaba Suntai were abandoned.

    The source added that the sacked acting governor personally declared in August 2013 that he saved about N27.3 billion in the state’s account.

    “The recovery panel will investigate what he (Umar) did with the funds now that the treasury is in the red,” the source said.

    On resuming duty at the weekend, Danladi nullified all appointments made by Umar, saying: “I met with Suntai and we agreed to do so because the appointments by Umar were illegal.”

    The new acting governor has appointed former Commissioner of Justice Gebon Kataps as the Secretary to the State Government (SSG). Kataps will resume duty today.

    Danladi is expected to announce his commissioners, advisers, Head of Service (HOS), corporations’ board members and permanent secretaries this week.

  • Protests as Taraba Acting Gov picks intent form tomorrow

    Protests as Taraba Acting Gov picks intent form tomorrow

    Acting Governor of Taraba State, Garba Umar, will buy the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship intent form tomorrow.

    He reportedly asked all his commissioners, advisers and chairmen of local government councils to be in Abuja yesterday preparatory to the event.

    The officials are to mobilise support for the acting governor.

    But some stakeholders from the state, particularly from southern Taraba district, are kicking against it.

    They have warned him of the consequences of his ambition.

    They alleged that Umar had agreed not to aspire for any office before he was appointed deputy by Governor Danbaba Suntai.

    They also accused Umar of being “disloyal” to the ailing governor and vowed to stop him from getting the ticket even if he buys the nomination form.

    Suntai, who hails from the Central Senatorial zone, had proposed to relinquish power to the South.

    He took over in 2007 from Jolly Nyame, who hails from the North and ruled for 10 years.

    Suntai, the stakeholdes said, had argued that the fairest thing to do is to zone the 2015 governorship slot to the South.

    His involvement in the plane crash on October 25, 2012, has however, changed the political calculation.

    Umar, who is from the north, is contesting on grounds that Taraba has never practiced zoning politics.

    He also said he has the unalienable right to run for the exalted office.

     

  • Suntai commended for executive/legislature relationship

    The Speaker of the Taraba State House of Assembly, Josiah Sabo Kente, on Monday commended recuperating Governor Danbaba Danfulani Suntai for laying a solid foundation for a very cordial and symbiotic relationship between the legislature and the executive arm in the state.

    The Speaker also prayed for the governor to recover fully.

    Kente spoke at the floor of the state House of Assembly on Monday.

    He said:  “It is said, give honour to whom honour is due; I wish to commend and appreciate Governor Danbaba Danfulani Suntai for having laid a solid foundation for a very cordial, harmonious, respectful and symbiotic relationship between the legislature and the executive in the state since the beginning of the Seventh Assembly in June 2011.

    “Your Excellency (Suntai), we are still on our knees praying for your recovery so as to resume your duties.”

    Kente also commended the Acting Governor, Garba Umar, “for continuing in the same manner as his principal.”

    But political associates of Suntai berated the Speaker for his statement, describing his commendations for the governor as “rhetoric.”

    One of them said: “If Suntai has done that well, by laying a solid foundation for a very cordial, harmonious, respectful and symbiotic relationship between the legislature and the executive in the state, as described by Mr. Speaker, why couldn’t the legislators justify that by allowing him (Suntai) take over his seat when he returned from medical trip last year, after treating the injuries he sustained when his plane crashed in 2012?

    “The legislators behaved to Suntai as a governor who hated them. They asked his deputy to rule the state and made him to idle in the state House. Today, he (Speaker) is saying Suntai had built a respectful and cordial relationship between them, how do we understand and what does this stand to mean?”

  • Taraba: Motion without movement

    SIR: Some people find themselves in leadership position well prepared and ready for the task ahead with a well defined and articulated blueprint which would serve as a guide in actualizing their pre-conceived objective. These group of leaders always succeed; for instance Babatunde Fashola of Lagos and Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers.

    Others find themselves unprepared, without any defined idea of what they intend to achieve; in fact, some come into office as a result of a misfortune of others; this group rarely triumph. The acting Governor of Taraba State Alhaji Garba Umar alias UTC fell within the later group.

    I am not trying to validate the nonsensical position of those agitating for his vacation from office so as to pave way for them to run the affairs of government on behalf of ailing Governor Danbaba Suntai, but to highlight silent issues which those sycophants around him would not be able to tell him for the fear of the unknown.

    I have been away from my state, Taraba, for almost four months. As I approached the city gate coming back home, I was expecting to see changes in the landscape of Jalingo. Alas, there were no changes. Even the street lights that I left working are no longer functioning, No single road project is going on, nothing!

    When I enquired from the locals, I was told that it has been like that since I left. One of his defenders told me he is constructing Bali-Gembu Road and that he is also working on the completion of College of Nursing Jalingo. Coincidentally, while watching the local news that same evening, I saw workers of the Taraba State Road Construction and Maintenance Agency (TARCMA) demonstrating over non-payment of their salaries.  What a shame!

    His recent appointment of about 24 Special advisers and 24 Special Assistants is nothing short of embarrassment. What do you need them for when you have commissioners manning all the portfolios? Is that not duplication of work? Or is it an avenue of empowering the foot soldiers that would prosecute the 2015 election? No wonder, I was told that they don’t even have offices.

    The truth of the matter is that, the acting governor’s performance in the last two years by all standards is below average. How did I arrive at that conclusion? It is simple arithmetic; calculate the total amount received by the state government from the various

  • Senator to Umar: you can’t be Taraba governor

    Senator to Umar: you can’t be Taraba governor

    •‘You swore you won’t contest’

    The senator representing Taraba South, Emmanuel Bwacha, said yesterday that Acting Governor Garba Umar cannot contest next year.

    The senator revealed that Umar swore to Governor Danbaba Suntai that he would not run for office.

    Bwacha said he opposed Umar from the onset because he envisaged the acting governor was not good for Taraba.

    The senator, in an open letter, vowed to stop Umar, if he insists on contesting.

    Bwacha said: “I am compelled to write this letter because I owe it as a responsibility to provide leadership and light where darkness and confusion have taken over. There comes a time in the life of a man when silence is no longer considered golden.”

    He accused Umar of instituting in the state “tyranny and dictatorship,” which he said is the “worst possible disservice to mankind.”

    Bwacha said: “I opposed your becoming deputy governor from day one and now I’m more than vindicated.

    “I warned Suntai, now see what we have. I’m aware you swore to Suntai about your ambition.

    “You know this and your God knows, because Suntai actually expressed his reservations a day before he accepted you.

    “You told him that you won’t pursue any personal ambition but see what you are doing: campaigning vigorously.

    “Did you expect me to keep quiet when our people were ambushed and killed by insurgents who confessed that someone paid them to come and unleash hell in our area?

    “You expected me to chicken out when you told some of your minions in Jalingo that it was not herdsmen who were attacking the Tiv people but the Jukun dressed  like Fulani.

    “This, you had hoped would incite Tiv against Jukun. You don’t know that Jukun and Tiv are now united against any form of criminality?

    “It is better for a primary school leaver to be governor than allow you ruin Taraba. We won’t let that happen to our people.”

  • ‘Umar doesn’t deserve to contest in PDP’

    The acting Governor of Taraba State, Garba Umar, does not deserve to contest the 2015 governorship election on the platform of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, the Association for Good Governance (AGG) said on Tuesday.
    The state Chairman of the group, Danjuma Isa Munga, who briefed journalists in Jalingo said the acting governor has failed the state and the party in all ramifications and should not be allowed to run for the exalted seat.
    He advised the party to as a matter of urgency to start shopping for a credible candidate that would hoist the party’s banner at the poll.
    The Association for Good Governance members who are also PDP stalwarts explained that Umar has done nothing positive to herald development in the state during his reign, instead, “he has continued to siphon the state’s resources making the state poorer.”
    “Garba Umar has disappointed us and we are therefore calling on the PDP not to support him in his ambition.
    “Taraba State under the administration of Umar has been characterised by high level corruption and embezzlement of public funds meant for the development of the state,” Munga said.
    He accused Umar of “marginalisation and nepotism,” adding: “It’s sad that appointments into federal government positions from the state are often being cornered by the acting governor for his tribal men, in total violation of the federal character.”
    The group said Umar has betrayed the people who stood by him as well as “Allah” who brought him to prominence.
    “He (Umar) has hijacked the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) contracts which used to be a source of development for the state and poverty alleviation for the people.
    “Beneficiaries of the MDGs contracts are all from Gombe State where Umar always stays.
    “He spends millions of naira buying cars and furnishing offices for thugs he illegally recruited as the ‘youth wing’ of the party.
    It scolded Umar for not gearing up the PDP in the right direction.

  • ‘Umar responsible for Taraba crisis’

    ‘Umar responsible for Taraba crisis’

    The senator representing Taraba South, Emmanuel Bwacha, has accused Acting Governor Garba Umar of failing to protect lives and property.

    Bwacha spoke yesterday in reaction to Umar’s allegations that the senator was attempting to “incite division and violence” in the state.

    The acting governor, in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Aaron Atimas, said the senator has been trying to hijack power from him.

    Bwacha said: “Umar has demonstrated he is really a neophyte, who has failed in governance and protection of lives and property.”

    “Who should be accused of inciting violence? A man who has aided “genocide” in the state and the other who is calling on the Federal Government to stop the killings?

    “I called for a state of emergency in Taraba State because we cannot continue to watch the daily killing of innocent people in hostilities, which can be prevented.

    “The violence today is being perpetrated by armed insurgents.

    “Why is the spate of crime and violence in Taraba increasing robustly, despite an increase of security votes from N80 million to N200 million?”

    The senator also accused Umar of identifying with only Muslims.

    “Records of the Sure-P scheme and his unconstitutional appointments are lopsided.

    “Christians and Muslims in Taraba had been co-habiting in peace and harmony, until he came to polarise them in his “illegitimate” government.

    “On the issue of my political ambition, we are working as a team to get a consensus candidate from southern Taraba who would become the next governor.

    “It could be me or another person and I am willing to support whoever the stakeholders endorse.

    “I am not desperate like Umar, who is afraid of me. I have never relied on anybody than God in my political career.”

  • Troops deployed in Taraba

    Troops deployed in Taraba

    •’Remove Umar now’

    •Groups write Jonathan

    Acting Taraba State Governor Garba Umar has said 50 more soldiers have been deployed in Wukari from Adamawa State.

    Communal clashes have engulfed Wukari since April 15, leading to the death of 24 people.

    Umar, who spoke at a briefing in Jalingo yesterday, said the soldiers would complement the existing ones.

    He directed that the Takum General Hospital, which was closed down for security reasons, be opened so that victims could receive treatment.

    The acting governor sympathised with four women, who gave birth at the Mutum- Biyu refugee camp and promised that the government would treat every victim free.

    Umar announced that the 24-hour curfew imposed in the area had been relaxed and would be in force from noon to 6am.

    He said 29 trailers loaded with relief materials had been sent to Takum, Wukari, Gassol and Ibi.

    The acting governor reiterated that his administration had taken proactive measures to deal with the security challenges, saying that security issues were too sensitive to be politicised.

    “We remain committed to the security and well being of the public. Unfortunately, some people are using this security challenge to secure political gains. The security of our dear state is too sensitive to play politics with,” he said.

    Indigenes of Taraba South Senatorial District living in Abuja have petitioned the House of Assembly to removing the acting governor.

    The G20 Club Abuja alleged that Umar’s action and inactions show that he does not care about the happenings in Taraba South.

    In a statement by Edward Jeremiah, the group said: “We are not unaware of the desperation and scheming by the acting governor to succeed Governor Danbaba Suntai and he has jettisoned his primary responsibilities of piloting the affairs of the state.

    “Reports show that Umar is at war with inhabitants of Taraba South, who are insisting that it is their turn to produce the next governor.

    “We demand that the House of Assembly begin the process of removing him from office.”

    In a related development, the Southern Taraba Forum for a Just Society (STFJS) and the Taraba Christian Youth Assembly (TCYA) yesterday said Umar should be blamed for all the violence.

    In an open letter to President Goodluck Jonathan, signed by Caleb Manu (Coordinator) and others, the forum said the mayhem was a blueprint to destabilise Taraba south and institute a reign of terror

    The Forum said: “Without mincing words, Umar is responsible for the current skirmishes.

    “Apart from nebulous comments by his media aides, no concrete effort has been made to stop the attacks in Wukari and Kashimbilla.

    “Umar has increased the security vote from N80 million to N200 million, yet there is no peace to show for all his spending.”

    The groups urged Jonathan to call the acting governor to order by directing him to dust up Suntai’s master-plan of providing peace in Taraba.

    “Before Umar came onboard, the Hausa, Tiv, Jukun and all other ethnic groups in southern Taraba had lived together in peace.

    “ It is not as if the basis for hostilities was not there, but, Suntai managed the differences in an effective way that sustained peace.”

  • Umar sacks controversial chief of staff

    Umar sacks controversial chief of staff

    Taraba State Acting Governor Garba Umar has sacked his Chief of Staff, Ahmed Yusuf a.k.a Gamaliya.

    Sources said Umar took the decision, following an impeachment threat by the House of Assembly, who accused Yusuf of “destroying” the government.

    A statement by Umar’s Chief Press Secretary Kefas Sule said Yusuf willingly “stepped aside.”

    “Taraba State Acting Governor Garba Umar has approved the request of his Chief of Staff, Ahmed Yusuf, to step aside,” the statement said.

    But Yusuf told reporters he did not resign but was sacked.

    Some lawmakers said based on the condition they gave Umar, he has sacked Yusuf but decided to give him a soft landing.

    Umar would announce a new chief of staff “in due course,” his chief press secretary said.

    “It is unfair to say Yusuf resigned. He has been sacked as chief of staff and we are glad one of our major demands has been met,” a lawmaker said.

    Before his appointment, Yusuf chaired the State Investments and Property Limited.

    Umar said Yusuf could return to his former position.

    There were allegations the ex-chief of staff gave the Speaker, Josiah Sabo Kente, a proposal that Governor Danbaba Suntai be impeached.

    Yusuf refuted the allegation.

    “It is not true,” he told The Nation.

    Umar’s supporters also alleged Yusuf was planning to contest the 2015 governorship, which the acting governor was interested in.

    But Yusuf said his ambition was to run for Senate in Taraba North.

    Yusuf, a former commissioner of Finance, had been an opposition leader in the state.

    He contested the governorship election on the platforms of the Action Congress (AC) and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) before Suntai brought him to PDP.

     

  • ‘Ex-Taraba commissioner died a sad man’

    Ex-Taraba State Commissioner for Works, Mr. Jonah Agyo is dead. He died at Courage Clinic, Jalingo after a prolonged illness.

    He will be buried at his home in Wukari, Taraba South on Saturday, the family said.

    Agyo was sacked with eight members of the Executive Council by Acting Governor Garba Umar for allegedly failing to account for the N400 million intervention fund for flood victims.

    The sacked officials went to court, claiming they were fired for opposing a proposal to impeach Governor Danbaba Suntai.

    A source said: “The sack broke Agyo’s heart, which may have quickened his death.

    “Agyo was a sad man for what he felt tarnished his brilliant career.

    “He was on his hospital bed in Israel when the House of Assembly panel constituted on Umar’s directive indicted him.

    “He (Agyo) was largely away throughout the period and never saw a penny of the flood fund.”

    House of Assembly Speaker Josiah Sabo Kente visited the family, announcing he would tell the acting governor the news.

    But Agyo’s family, led by first son, Magai, rejected the suggestion, it was learnt.

    The family reportedly said it would not want Umar’s involvement.

    The source said Agyo’s relatives insisted they would not accept any monetary donations from Umar, besides the deceased’s entitlements.

    “After tarnishing his (Agyo’s) image they want to come and play politics at his funeral. We won’t take that,” they said.