Gov. Danbaba Danfulani Suntai
The return of the purportedly healed governor of Taraba State’s Governor Danbaba Suntai became more bizarre on Sunday following his return to Nigeria after 10-months of medical treatment in Germany and later in the United States.
Arriving at the Jalingo airport in Taraba State, Mr. Suntai was bizarrely prevented from meeting with the Acting governor, Alhaji Graba Umar, who was present to receive him. As soon as he was assisted off the aircraft, his supporters ushered him into a maroon Range Rover SUV and drove off with thousands of the rented crowd in tow.
Mr. Suntai's return to Nigeria began at the John F Kennedy International airport in New York at about 7:50p.m local time aboard a chartered Gulfstream IV with US registration number N388CA chartered from Farmingdale, New York–based Air Rutter International.
The jet first flew to Santa Maria Airport (LPAZ) near Senegal before proceeding to Nigeria, arriving in Abuja at about 1p.m. local time.
Upon arrival, it was a strange sight as Mr. Suntai was assisted by three aides to disembark from the jet. Following planted reports as to how well he had responded to treatment, several of his associates who had expected to meet a strong, healthy and fit Suntai were disappointed as he could not disembark without assistance.
He was immediately whisked to the VIP lounge where he was received by a big Peoples Democratic Party figure, Professor Jerry Gana, John Dara and several others.
Mr. Suntai managed to smile occasionally, but he did not speak to the waiting throng of reporters. In the continuing choreography, Prof. Gana later attributed the returnee-governor’s inability to speak to the long trip and jet lag.
At a point, photo journalists were ushered in to take Mr. Suntai’s photo, but he remained carefully sandwiched between Gana and another aide.
When the stage-managed events at the Nnamdi Azikiwe airport were over, Mr. Suntai took the flight home to Jalingo, the Taraba capital, arriving there at 3:45p.m. Coordinators of the road show ensured that he also evaded the thousands of supporters mobilized to the airport to welcome the “healed” governor.
SaharaReporters sources have indicated that the next phase of the plot by a powerful cabal to keep the brain-damaged governor in power will manifest at the Governor’s Lodge in the next few days.
We have learnt that the main personnel behind the unfolding drama include retired general Theophilus Danjuma; Damian Dodo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, who will provide the legal firepower for the maintenance of political power in the hands of a man who is clearly incapacitated; and Senator Emmanuel Bwacha, who will be the main political operative. They are being joined by some government officials led by the Secretary to the Taraba State Government, who will likely be used to form a parallel power structure in the state to keep Mr. Suntai in power.
A junior Minister in President Goodluck Jonathan's administration, Darius Dickson Ishaku, along with Plateau State Governor Jonah Jang, are the other actors in the political power heist in Taraba which offers moment-to-moment reminders of the fading days of President Umaru Yar’Adua.
Following his carefully-plotted “return” to power on Sunday, Governor Suntai is expected to send a letter to the House of Assembly in the next few days requesting a leave of absence. He may then return to the United States, where doctors have said he is unlikely to recover enough to return to normal life, to continue his rehabilitation.
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