By Godwin Agia, in Jalingo
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Taraba State, on Wednesday, reacted to Governor Agbu Kefas’ address on the prolonged absence of his Deputy, Alhaji Aminu Abdullahi Alkali, describing the speech as mere rhetoric without substance.
In a statement by the party’s Publicity Secretary, Mr Aaron Artimas, the party expressed concern over the continued absence of the Deputy Governor without adequate information, which it described as a brazen violation of the constitution.
According to the statement, the APC criticized Governor Agbu Kefas’ speech in a State media briefing on Tuesday for failing to provide a clear solution to the situation, leaving the state in the same position as it was eight months ago.
“The governor’s speech was a mere rhetoric claiming some motion but without a single movement.
“The All Progressives Congress APC, as well as legal experts and other well meaning Nigerians have expressed concern over the continued absence of the Deputy Governor without adequate information which is a brazen violation of the constitution. The party had raised this issue when the absence exceeded the three months allowed by the constitution.
“In his speech, the governor towed the familiar path of moralizing and personalizing the issue by evoking religious sentiments to support the government’s inaction on the matter.
“While the APC and other Tarabans truly sympathize with the Deputy Governor over his subsisting predicament, we strongly insist that exposing him to wild insinuations and speculations is not the best way to assist him at this difficult time.
“We hereby insist that the constitution did not envisage a situation whereby the Deputy Governor would stay away from office a long time or indefinitely, otherwise it would not have made it mandatory or a condition to be included in the single ticket for the governorship election. The Deputy Governor, as the vice chairman of the State Executive Council is neither idle nor a “spare tire”, in the sense some people are insinuating.
“We advice the State Government to engage the family of the Deputy Governor in an honest and sincere dialogue, and when it is apparent that he cannot fully perform his responsibilities, he should be allowed to resign honorably while the Government pays all his personal entitlements to enable him continue his recovery in peace.
“As a mark of respect, his family or his immediate community may be allowed to nominate a replacement so as not to continue marginalizing or shortchanging his immediate constituency in the process of governance.
“The APC in Taraba State would like to emphasize that the issue of the Deputy Governor’s illness is not a personal matter to be handled at the whims and caprice of the governor or to be subjected to some form of emotions of “e’spirit de corps”, since this is purely a constitutional matter and of public accountability,” statement read.
