A fresh attempt by a political cabal in Taraba State to return to office Danbaba Suntai, the governor who suffered brain injuries in a 2012 plane crash, failed yesterday following a weeklong series of maneuvers.
Working in collaboration with some media outlets, the cabal last Monday took the ailing governor to his office in Jalingo along with some of his physical therapists to see if he could be smuggled back into office but after five minutes, Mr. Suntai could not tell what he was doing. He was then rushed back to the governor’s mansion where, when asked where he was, he answered, “Airport.”
The group behind the efforts, which is reported to be funded by former Nigeria Minister of Defence, Theophilus Danjuma, then shipped Mr. Suntai to Abuja to meet with President Goodluck Jonathan in the hope that a public outing with the president would help provide an official veneer to their shenanigans.
However, sources say that sensing that Mr. Suntai was still unstable, President Jonathan sent some security agents to meet with him; when they asked if he knew the location of Aso rock, Suntai replied that he was in Jalingo and not Abuja.
The governor was flown back to Jalingo last night after the plot failed to materialize, but the cabal is understood to be re-strategizing.
Mr. Suntai received his brain injuries after a small plane he was flying crashed near the airport in Yola in October 2012. He has since be treated in Germany and the US, with doctors in both countries revealing he is unlikely to function normally again given the nature of his injuries.