Following the air crash that involved
former governor Danbaba Suntai, there was the emergence of what became known as
the Taraba cabal of which was involved in a power tussle; can you tell us about
the cabal and what has become of it?
I have heard people talk about the cabal
in Taraba I don’t think the cabal is any mysterious group. Initially it had to
do with some gladiators or principal actors in Taraba politics who claimed to
share a common aspiration, goal or agenda that came together to pursue an
interest that was political. I know them by the tip of my fingers because I was
once with them. I was a member of the cabal and we were all working together
holding meetings in several locations and different times essentially on how to
move Taraba forward and galvanize the kind of development that Taraba people
expect. Unfortunately personal ambitions took over the fundamental focus of the
cabal. Those of us who didn’t agree with the new principle; who felt the cabal
was derailing decided to opt out because the focus of the cabal was no longer
developmental. I and some other people within the cabal were seen as underdogs
and as such businesses were no longer conducted by such people. New members
were being admitted without the knowledge of the old ones so we began to sense
that the cabal was heading for the rocks. The new entrants came in and attacked
old members and the old members kept mute. In a nutshell the cabal eventually
disintegrated because the wall got cracked to the extent that lizards could
enter.
Many had believed that the cabal was
said to be principally protecting the political structures of former governor
Danbaba Suntai, especially in the wake of the plane crash but today Suntai
appears to be relegated to the background; what do you make of this?
You are very correct. Danbaba was the
central focus or the balancer of the cabal. He was an upright person who could
look at you straight in the face and tell you when you were wrong and when you
were right. He also commended you when you did something commendable and reprimanded
you when you did otherwise. When Danbaba had that accident he created a vacuum
and it was to fill that vacuum that brought about the ambition of the cabal
that we are talking about. If he were there Taraba wouldn’t have gone the way
it is today but because he wasn’t there the personal ambition of the cabal
members overtook the main agenda. Succession politics became the struggle and
in a system like that it behooves on the leadership of the cabal to bring the
members together and share information. Unfortunately Danbaba’s situation was
shrouded in secrecy; it was only the people in the cabal that knew about it but
they were hiding information. Consequently things started nose-diving because
if there was proper sharing of information, the situation would have been
better managed and the Danbaba’s structures would have been better
sustained. As we speak today Danbaba’s case has become history; nobody
can tell you the whereabouts of Danbaba today. Those who claimed they were
protecting him were only doing so because it was like a hide and seek game.
Remember the timeless play “Who is in the Garden”. Pay a kobo; come and see him
if you want to do so. People hid the man even though the whole world knew that
his situation was critical and irredeemable. It was when the place became too
hot that the cabal themselves had to run helter-scelter. As I am talking to you
today even the corrupted cabal has lost out in the game because what is
happening to them now isn’t their intention. They have no choice than to play
along and I can assure you that there are still some intrigues even from
within. Even the governor, Darius himself is in for trouble and he had better
watch his back because like I earlier told you I was a member of the cabal and
I know the kind of things they do.
Where do you think Suntai could possibly
be at the moment?
Those who could say are probably his
immediate family members because the man has just simply been used by the cabal
members and dumped. Today none of the cabal members are even mentioning him;
immediately after the election everyone went their separate ways. The all got
what they wanted and everybody disappeared.
Are you implying that the cabal simply
used his misfortune for personal political gains?
That is simply what happened.
The southern Taraba zone where you come
from had agitated for power shift but the way you speak you sound like someone
who is not happy with the victory of Darius Ishaku…?
I have no worries with power shifting to
the southern part of Taraba. Why we are worried is the way and manner that the
power shifted. Everybody wants power to shift but it must be shifted decently
and I will not identify with indecency all in the name of politics. Our grouse
is even with the institutions, not individuals; it is the rot in the
institutions that is challenging the fabrics of democracy. Governor Darius as
an individual is a gentleman; a professional. Where we have problems is with
the institutions and the people who are manipulating them.
But you were the secretary general of
the Garba Umar campaign organization who is not from the zone..
Yes, the confusion and indecency started
even before the emergence of Garba Umar. When the obvious was at hand that
Danbaba would no longer hold sway the natural thing was for Umar to emerge as
governor in line with the provisions of the constitution. They refused him to
step in as the substantive governor as it was; rather they went to bring a
thing that was moribund. So it was a state of confusion; it was a poison that
was cooked and kept. So no sane mind could see that level of corruption and
identify with it. Those were the things that made the power shift rather
unpalatable; it looked beautiful but not sweet.
After the 2015 general elections a forum
called ‘2015 Taraba PDP Aspirants Forum was formed with you as chairman; what
were the reasons behind it?
The emergence of the 2015 Taraba PDP
Aspirants Forum in Taraba state was as a result of the injustice and impunity
that permeated the primary election in the state. Taraba state as you are aware
has always been a PDP state. We have all been driving in one political bus that
hardly had any opposition since 1999. The failure of internal democracy in 2015
precipitated crises that gave rise to that forum. Essentially you would notice
that when a forum of aspirants like this emerges it means something had gone
wrong and it is that thing that went wrong that gave rise to the forum. Like I
earlier said what went wrong essentially was the failure of the PDP to conduct
primaries in Taraba State.
One would have expected your forum to go
to court and seek redress over the injustice you talked about but rather it was
the APC governorship candidate that challenged the PDP up to the Supreme Court…
That is the perception among the people
that the aspirants didn’t go to court. The aspirants went to court severally
and individually and even as I am talking to you I have a case pending in
court. Immediately when the primary didn’t hold we were to go to court
collectively but due to delays here and there some of us went to court
individually. I filed a case at the Federal High Court Abuja on December 31,
2015 which was later transferred to Jalingo. Recall that the purported Wadata
Plaza primaries of Taraba State was in late November and shortly after it when
we realized that it was a sham I headed to the court. Several other aspirants
ranging from State Assembly to the National Assembly elections are also in
court. Apart from these the delegates who were denied their rights to determine
their representatives as sponsored by the party to stand lection are also in
courts.
The APC’s case against governor Darius
Ishaku went up to the Supreme Court which recently gave its verdict upholding
the election; what is your take on the verdict?
The Supreme Court can be likened to a
referee in a football match; however the goal was scored even if it was scored
with hand since the referee had blown that it is a goal there is nothing one
could do about it. They have ruled but there are still many things yet untouched.
If the Court ruled that the petitioner did not have the locus because she is
not a member of the PDP, some of us are members so let us wait and see in our
own cases. Will the court also say we don’t have locus? We bought forms in the
PDP and we were to participate in never held; rather people were handpicked. I
believe by the time our cases come up hot there would be boomerang effect that
would be all consuming.
Are you implying that even with the
Supreme Court’s verdict the battle is not yet over?
Anybody who thinks that the battle in
Taraba is over would be making a great mistake. This is because the coalition
of all the aspirants who bought forms are all agitated and angered. They felt
that a lot of injustice has come to play. We rose from a meeting recently and
resolved that we are not going to leave this matter until justice prevails. You
don’t take people’s money under the guise of nomination without conducting the
primaries and yet you failed to refund their monies. So the aspirants all
resolved that they will not leave any stone unturned until justice prevails. We
want an end to impunity and recklessness so that the rule of law would take its
course. As far as we are concerned the conduct of the PDP in the purported
primaries was tantamount to extortion and we are inviting the EFCC to
investigate that extortion. This is because the quantum of money involved is
large. It amounts to a financial crime and the EFCC must look into it. We don’t
really need to formally write to the EFCC; it is a financial crime which is
already in the public domain. But where it becomes necessary for us to write
them to look into this grand style of extortion we will not hesitate to do so.
- Daily Trust
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