Hauwa Suntai, Gov. Suntai, and Tita Mbalam
Recently released photos of the seriously injured Governor Danbaba Suntai of Taraba State are part of a scheme by members of his inner circle to temporarily halt the hand-over of power to the state’s deputy governor, several sources have told SaharaReporters.
In the last few days, Mr. Suntai’s propagandists have flooded Nigerian dailies with photos of the governor who is hospitalized in Hanover, Germany. “The idea is to leave the impression that Governor Danbaba Suntai’s return to Nigeria is imminent,” said one source, a PDP official.
The photo depicts Mr. Suntai sitting on a special support chair and showing no emotion. His wife and friend, who are also in the picture, are seen smiling in the direction of a baby delivered by Mr. Suntai's wife. The baby was put in Mr. Suntai’s hands for the staged photo op.But the source and several others in Taraba were emphatic that the governor remains brain-damaged. Mr. Suntai sustained his serious brain and other injuries when a small plane he was piloting crashed near Yola Airport in Adamawa State. There were five other passengers in the plane at the time of the crash.
In addition to being unaware of his environment and unable to recognize people, our sources also described Mr. Suntai as partially paralyzed. “The truth is that his wife and political aides have been hoping for a miracle to cure the governor of the severe injuries that have kept him in the hospital for several months in Germany,” said one of our sources.
Mr. Suntai is currently at the Medical University of Hannover Hospital Carl-Neuberg St 1 30625 Hannover, Germany. Tel: 00495115320
MH Hanover is a world-renowned center for trauma management.
“The hurried release of the photo was done to slow down the complete take-over of the state by the new deputy governor,” said a source who had visited Mr. Suntai. The ailing governor handpicked his deputy shortly before the Yola plane crash that incapacitated him.
Saharareporters contacted the German hospital for an official update on Mr. Suntai, but hospital officials refused to disclose the status of Mr. Suntai's condition, stating that the governor had requested that all access to his records be blocked.
A People's Democratic Party (PDP) source told SaharaReporters that the party was aware that efforts were in top gear to replace the ailing governor. He confirmed that the party had no information to the effect that Mr. Suntai was “discharged from the hospital or coming home anytime soon.”
Several government officials including the Senate president had visited Mr. Suntai in Germany and privately confided in several people that the governor did not recognize them. A few weeks ago, Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue State told a church congregation that Mr. Suntai was in bad shape. Mr. Suswam insinuated at the time that Christian governors were being targeted for elimination.
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