Taraba State Governor Returns To State After 87 Days Absence

Taraba State Governor, Darius Ishaku on Thursday returned to Jalingo after spending 87 days outside the state and attributes his absence to injury from a slip on a staircase at home due to power outage. Addressing crowd of loyalists at the Danbaba Suntai Airport that includes his deputy, Haruna Manu, and other Government officials, the governor cleared the air on the circumstances surrounding his long absence, which has stirred a lot of controversy with some stakeholders calling on him to transmit power to his deputy.

 He said the genesis of his absence was a domestic accident in his house in which he slipped off the staircase due to power outage, which compelled him to travel out of the country for medical treatment, and his subsequent stay in Abuja for recuperation. Darius explained that his absence from the state did not affect or stall governance and development programmes, as all projects have continued as planned adding that no vacuum was created to warrant the uproar witnessed while he was away.

He commended the people for standing by him during the period and said their prayers facilitated his recovery and assured that he will continue to deploy the resources at his disposal to bring about development despite the prevailing global tough times. Darius commended his deputy, members of the State Executive Council, and members of the State House of Assembly for the support throughout the long period of his absence from the state. He further urged the political opposition in the state to support his administration in order to achieve the desired development. “The dualisation project and rural road projects in different parts of the state and all other projects are progressing even when I was absent,” he said.