Taraba assembly empowers deputy gov to act as governor

The Taraba State House of Assembly on Wednesday morning passed a resolution empowering Deputy Governor Garba Umar to step into the capacity of Acting Governor.

This follows the absence of Governor Danbaba Suntai, who was flown to Germany last month after crashing a small plane owned by the state government into a farm near the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation depot in Yola, the Adamawa State capital.

Suntai was flying the plane and had some of his security aides as well as the co-pilot onboard.

None of them died in the crash.

The lawmakers passed the resolution by invoking section 190 of the 1999 Constitution, Premium Times reports.

The section reads, “Whenever the Governor transmits to the Speaker of the House of Assembly a written declaration that he is proceeding on vacation or that he is otherwise unable to discharge the functions of his office, until he transmits to the Speaker of the House of Assembly a written declaration to the contrary such functions shall be discharged by the Deputy Governor as Acting Governor.”

It was not made clear whether the governor sent a letter to the assembly on the matter.

The motion to make Umar the acting governor was moved under “matters of urgent public importance” by the Majority Leader, Charles Maijankai.

Lawmakers who contributed to the motion include the Deputy Speaker, Abel Diah, and Mark Useni of Takum 2 Constituency.

Useni recalled that Suntai had on three occasions in the past transmitted letters to the House, asking it to empower the deputy governor to act in his absence.

Useni also said Suntai had always acted “within the ambits of the law.”