For those who thought that that would be the talking point for weeks to come, it took only days before another unbelievable event overtook it. A carry over. Today, Taraba State is confronted with a situation similar to when the late President Umar Musa Yar’Adua was hurriedly and unceremoniously transferred into an air ambulance from Saudi Arabia back home. His kitchen cabinet members, who had turned political hijackers, ran out of lies and time, and it was only then that they had no choice but to jockey and horse trade whilst they still could at the expense of the dignity of a dying or dead man. The Governors’ Forum took over from the laid down procedures as stipulated by the constitution of the country. They negotiated with the current president and had to give the nod before he could takeover as the president. His constitutional right!
After 10 months of treatment and rehabilitation abroad, Governor Danbaba Suntai had to be hurriedly re-instated as governor. The premise is simple: If the governor failed to return this month, fit or unfit, the hitherto acting governor constitutionally becomes the substantive governor. Like in the Yar’Adua manuscript, mischief came into play. Governor Suntai’s survival from that crash last October is in itself a miracle. He is one of a select few that can claim to have survived a plane crash. He is evidently not physically fit and we all appreciate what kind of pressure the rigors of leadership can put upon a man. One can only feel empathy for the poor chap as he was assisted in pain from the airplane and whisked off to government house, unable to speak with waiting reporters. It was a sad picture of an ailing lion being preyed upon by ravenous and hateful hyenas.
Section 189 of the 1999 Constitution is clear
enough on this matter. No legal interpretation or “doctrine of necessity” is
required to do the right thing in this situation. During the Yar’Adua-Jonathan saga, we fretted
that the cabal system could set a treacherous precedent in our country. It
has. And while we gnash our teeth and
bite our lips, the treachery has grown beyond our imagination. Our politicians
have redefined the mandate we gave them and floated arms and tiers of
government alien to the rulebook.
Where a governor or president comes from and who
succeeds him is a key part of the brand of politics threatening to consume us. Power
blocs and crushers emerge daily either to champion yet another obnoxious
subversion of our constitution or to weaken our institutions. The Governors’ Forum,
for instance, has assumed the role of an electoral kingmaker and arbiter. To
hold on to this power is to control the soul of the most powerful association
in the country. There is a titanic struggle going, as we are all aware.
President Jonathan has first hand experience of this power. Instead of trying
to crush it, however, he is trying to take control of it.
The choice of a second-in-command (a vice
president or deputy governor) in our polity is just a constitutional role that
is required to be filled. This person must be a political lightweight. He or
she is to exert no influence and have no power except for what the principal
allows. To give them a voice would mean that they could rock the boat. They are
timid puppets that have no leadership skills and are capable, if they unwittingly
find themselves in the principal’s seat, of causing untold damage to us.
As a people, the choice of a strong
second-in-command should form part of our prerequisite for electing governors
and presidents. Project Nigeria is a huge one and we need the best brains that
we can get our hands on to get us there. These are the details we should look into
in selecting the next set of leaders. We must pick candidates that will be
capable of representing us and ensure at all times that our welfare is at the
forefront of their actions. 
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