DREAMS of those agitating for the immediate confirmation of the Taraba State deputy governor as the acting governor due to the ill health of the Governor, Danbaba Suntai, seem to have hit the rock as the state chapter of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), yesterday, said there was no vacancy in the Government House.
Since the crash on Thursday October 25, which inflicted various degrees of injuries on the governor who is presently receiving medical attention in Germany, calls have been emanating from various quarters in the state on the need to apply section 191 subsection 1 of the 1999 constitution which allows the deputy governor to over the seat of the governor in acting capacity.
The NBA, which applauded journalists in the state for their accurate reportage of the crash, also frowned at the information disseminated by the Senior Special Adviser to the President on Social Media, Reno Omokri on Twitter.
Omokri was said to have pasted on Twitter that the Governor died on the spot.
The state chairman of the NBA, Ibrahim Effiong who spoke along side other executive members of the chapter, said the governor has not be declared unfit by his medical personnel to warrant the swearing in of the deputy governor.
"As far as I am concerned, we don't have vacancy in the government house. Circumstances does not arise to invoke the constitution in this regard," he declared.
He urged those hurriedly agitating for the deputy governor to take over power in the state in acting capacity to drop the idea.
Corroborating the position of the NBA, the Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General of the State, Gebon T. Kataps, also called on those with such idea to drop it "as the governor is not incapacitated and has not be declared unfit by the doctors."
Kataps, who spoke to The Guardian in a telephone interview, said: "Our governor is not incapacitated. He is just sick as a result of the accident he had and apart from that there is no any medical report that said he is unfit to carry on with his constitutional responsibility."
Optimistic that the governor would soon be back to the country and resume his function, he urged the people of the state to "forget those our detractors", adding that "when we get to that stage, I will be the one to advise."
