Banks are rejecting Taraba State transactions done by
Deputy Governor Garba Umar.
They have not honoured cheques
tendered by the deputy governor seeking withdrawals from the treasury since
ailing Governor Danbaba Suntai returned on August 25.
Umar, on Thursday, told banks that
government’s financial transactions should be honoured only if they are in
tandem with the provisions of the law.
He said: “The instruments must
contain verifiable signature of the Executive Governor of Taraba, Danbaba
Suntai and verifiable signature of Alhaji Garba Umar, the Acting Governor of
Taraba State.”
But a source said that a bank
dishonoured a cheque tendered for withdrawal.
The source said for now, the deputy
governor can only make withdrawals from his personal accounts.
The state’s monthly federal
allocations are channeled through Zenith Bank.
The state also operates a Local
Government Joint Account with United Bank for Africa (UBA).
Over N23.3 billion is in the state’s
treasury, it was learnt.
Suntai spent 10 months in Germany
and the United States treating the injuries he sustained when a plane he flew
crashed near Yola, Adamawa State on October 25 last year.
He returned suddenly, apparently to
neutralise his deputy who allegedly schemed to consolidate his hold on power.
His return has deepened the division
in the state which was polarised along religious lines.
The crisis became explosive when
Suntai purportedly dissolved the executive and appointed a new Chief of Staff
and a Secretary to the State Government (SSG), a move the deputy governor
rejected, saying a cabal had hijacked power.
House of Assembly Speaker Haruna
Tsokwa and 15 other lawmakers are backing the deputy governor in the power
struggle.
The Speaker said Suntai should
return to the United States to complete his treatment while his deputy
continues to act.
But Majority Leader Joseph Albasu
and seven other legislators have given Suntai the go-ahead to resume work,
after he transmitted a letter to the House.
The sacked commissioners and
advisers as well as the Christian majority in the state appear to be
comfortable with Suntai.
The commissioners on Friday shunned
an exco meeting scheduled by the deputy governor.
The Presidency and the ruling
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), the
Muslim Council and key stakeholders are trying to prevent the state from
sliding into chaos.
It was also gathered that the deputy
governor and the Speaker were preparing papers for a law suit against the
governor over the transmitted letter which the Speaker alleged was forged.
The acting governor, the Speaker and
the former Commissioner of Justice and Attorney General of the State, Timothy
Kataps, who is now the SSG, are defendants in a case filed by Senator Usman
Danboyi, praying the court to compel the accused persons to make Suntai’s
health status public.
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Politics