The Public Interest Lawyers League (PILL) has demanded that the Taraba State legislature declare Governor Danbaba Suntai unfit for office and and take steps to ascertain his true medical situation; as stated in the constitution.
In a statement made available to Nigerian Telegraph, and signed by its chairman, Abdul Mahmud, the group warned that it would go to court if the demands are not met within seven days.
The full text of the statement reads:
“Yesterday, Governor Suntai returned to the country almost exactly ten months after he was evacuated to Germany and later the United States for treatment of injuries he suffered in a plane crash. That he survived the crash and ten grueling months of recuperation from injuries that Nigerian newspapers and online blogs speculate range from a debilitating head injury to permanent mental and physical incapacitation is a testimony to his indomitable spirit.
However, his prolong absence raised, and still raises, questions over the state of his health, the extent of his injuries and the more specific question: is he fit to govern Taraba State?
The picture of a man being helped by aides down the gangway of an aircraft fuels the speculation that Governor Suntai is gravely ill, incapable of discharging the functions of his office. The failure of Governor Suntai to address the media or the people of his state since his arrival in Jalingo appears indicative of a more serious medical case.
We have travelled the beaten path before. Recall President Yar’Adua’s saga. As it was then, so it is now: a public servant, feeling very poorly, is corralled by a criminal cabal intent on subverting the spirit and letters of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).
Today, like yesteryear, Governor Suntai is imprisoned by his aides and a wife who is more interested in power than that the desire to help her husband deal with his fate, the circumstances he has found himself, away from prying and inquisitive public.
Nigerians must help Governor Suntai out of his misery.
The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) is very clear. Section 189 provides that:
(1) 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...
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