Taraba Assembly denies plans to replace deputy gov

The Taraba State House of Assembly on Thursday denied the allegation that it had perfected plans to replace the state Deputy Governor, Alhaji Aminu Alkali, over his prolonged illness.

Hon. Nelson C. Len, Chairman of the House Committee on Information, debunked the rumour while briefing journalists in Jalingo. He said the Deputy Governor was recuperating in a hospital in Abuja.

Tribune Online reports that a widespread report emerged on Tuesday, alleging that the State House of Assembly and Governor Agbu Kefas had concluded plans to declare the Deputy Governor incapacitated and replace him with the Deputy Speaker of the House, Hon. Hamman Adama.

Meanwhile, the State Assembly, while addressing journalists, said such a plan does not exist and that the Deputy Governor is recuperating.

“The Deputy Governor, Alhaji Aminu Alkali, is undergoing treatment in a hospital in Abuja and is recuperating. He will resume duty as soon as he fully recovers from his prolonged illness.

“He needs to be given time to fully recover so he can cope with both personal and official duties.

“None of the three arms of government has ever thought of replacing the Deputy Governor. Rather, more efforts are being made to ensure he recovers and resumes duty,” he stated on behalf of the State Assembly.

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While calling on the general public to disregard the speculations concerning the Deputy Governor, Hon. Len also denied that the Assembly has, at any time, discussed anything related to declaring the Deputy Governor incapacitated, nor has it received any communication from the Governor to that effect.

“We have not received any medical report showing that the Deputy Governor’s health is deteriorating.

“We call on the general public to disregard all speculations concerning the health and office of the Deputy Governor, Alkali,” he insisted.

Meanwhile, the Mumuye Cultural Development Association (MCDA), the Deputy Governor’s immediate community, in a press statement signed by its Chairman, Alex Malaze, thanked Governor Agbu Kefas for publicly refuting the speculations.

He, however, alleged that “in every rumour, there is always an element of truth.”

“As leaders of the Mumuye Cultural Development Association, we wish to draw the attention of the Taraba State Government to the fact that if the seat of the Deputy Governor is to be declared vacant due to health reasons, he should be replaced with another Mumuye person for the sake of political fairness.

“We wish to unequivocally state that the current administration under Dr. Agbu Kefas was ushered in with the overwhelming support of the Mumuye people from Zing, Yorro, Lau, Jalingo, Ardo-Kola, Gassol, Bali, and Gashaka LGAs, and as such, the Mumuye people should be accorded their rightful place in the governance of the state.

“A similar event occurred during the administration of His Excellency, the late Pharmacist Danbaba Danfulani Suntai. Senator Sani Danladi Abubakar, the then Deputy Governor, was removed and replaced with his kinsman, Hon. Garba Umar (UTC), from the same tribe and local government. In our case, the Mumuye tribe should not be treated differently,” he submitted.

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE