Jonathan won’t intervene in Taraba crisis — Presidency

The Presidency on Friday said President Goodluck Jonathan would not interfere in the crisis currently rocking Taraba State, which resulted from the attempt by Governor Danbaba Suntai to return to office.

Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Ahmed Gulak, said this in an exclusive interview with one of our correspondents.

The crisis in the state started when Suntai returned to the country after spending about 10 months abroad where he received treatment following his October 25, 2012, plane crash.

The move by those in his camp to take over from his deputy, Garba Umar, who served as acting governor in his absence, had so far been resisted by some members of the state House of Assembly. They insisted that the ailing governor must return to the United States to continue his treatment.

Gulak told one of our correspondents that Jonathan’s decision not to interfere in the matter was not an act of negligence but respect for the rule of law and the country’s constitution.

He said the country was running federalism and each state of the federation had constitutional organs to resolve such impasse without external interference.

He said the President would not want to be dragged into the matter.

While saying the state House of Assembly is the appropriate constitutional organ that should resolve the crisis, the presidential aide added that the national leadership of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party could also consider initiating what he described as a political solution to the impasse.

He said, “What Nigerians should appreciate is that we are operating federalism. Each state of the federation has constitutional organs saddled with the responsibility of solving such impasse.

“Taraba State, like any other  state of the federation, has the legislature and the judiciary that are capable of resolving the crisis.

“President Jonathan cannot wade into the crisis in the state. The country’s constitution has taken care of that.

“The President does not want to be dragged into that issue that has religious and political colouration. President Jonathan has been rightly advised on this matter.  It is not negligence, it is simply respect for the rule of law.

“We have constitutional organs to deal with the situation. The House of Assembly is the appropriate organ that can resolve it. There is also the option of political solution.

“As part of a political solution, the party at the national level can initiate moves following which the assembly and judiciary will solve it.”

Meanwhile, the former Commissioner for Information in Taraba State, Mr. Emmanuel Bello, has asked the National Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party, Bamanga Tukur, to be guided on the constitution while commenting on the political crisis in the state.

He said Suntai was fully in charge of affairs in Taraba state and was not ruling by proxy.

Tukur was recently quoted as saying that Taraba State could be governed by proxy, an apparent reference to aides of the ailing Suntai, who brought him back to the state.

Bello, in a statement in Jalingo on Saturday, said it was clear that the Speaker of the Taraba State House of Assembly was acting outside the constitution when he rejected Suntai’s letter to resume duties after the medical treatment.

The statement read, “Bamanga should respect the constitution as he wades into the Taraba crisis and he must make the nation’s constitution as his guide.

“Our country is guided by the constitution and we cannot afford to be lawless; the people perpetrating illegality are those saying they have no regard for the constitution.

“The Speaker of the Taraba State House of Assembly, Haruna Tsokwa, has said he is not interested in what the constitution says. In rejecting Suntai’s letter, he kept saying ‘as far as I am concerned’. He is not interested in the constitution as he is entrenching a strange thing in our national life. I believe he hasn’t read the constitution and if he has, he does not understand its provisions.”

He added, “Tukur should enforce the provisions of the constitution as it relates to the Taraba debacle. If Tukur takes sides in the ongoing imbroglio, we shall vehemently resist him.”

In another development, human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, has approached a court to compel the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar, and the Taraba State House of Assembly to investigate the true source of the letter sent to the state legislature, seeking the approval of the lawmakers for Suntai to resume duty.

Falana, in an interview with our correspondent, said he was compelled to file a suit after the police allegedly refused to respond to his call for a probe into the transmission of the letter before the ultimatum expired.

He said, “The ultimatum expired last Thursday. We have since gone to court, seeking for an Order of Mandamus to compel the Police to investigate the alleged forgery. As it was filed on Friday, the case has yet to be assigned and fixed for hearing

“I also wrote to the Taraba State House of Assembly, asking for an investigation by a committee to determine whether the governor actually transmitted the letter or it was done by proxy.”

The Senior Advocate of Nigeria said notwithstanding the resolution of the House on the matter, he would insist on investigating the letter to discourage treasonable acts.

“I am going ahead to challenge the impunity of the coup plotters in Taraba State. The so-called cabal got away with treason when they hijacked power, while the late President Umar YarÁdua was in coma.

“In that state, the President was alleged to have signed the supplementary budget of the country. Such brazen aberrations have got to stop.”

He noted that his letter to the IGP was to know whether the police would investigate his complaint. He added that he only went to court when he did not get a written response from Abubakar.

He said, “Events cannot overshadow treasonable acts of coup plotters. A cabinet of a state was dissolved and appointments were made purportedly by the ailing governor. Are the so called new political appointees not parading themselves in the state?

“We just cannot continue to run Nigeria as a failed state. Some have questioned my interference in the Taraba political debacle. When the suicidal crash occurred and only the governor was flown abroad, I cried foul.”