By Sylvanus Viashima, Jalingo
The Southern Taraba Elders Forum of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Tuesday gave reasons why Taraba South should retain power in 2023.
The convener Mr James Audu who spoke at Press conference in Jalingo said that Taraba South was the right zone to produce the next governor, even the incumbent -Darius Ishaku, hails from the zone.
“Those clamouring for power shift to Northern Taraba are very wrong,” he insisted.
Audu recalled that former governor Jolly Nyame, from Taraba North, had ruled the state for 10 years.
He explained that Taraba North, through Nyame, a cleric, steered the state during the Third Republic from 1992–1993.
He said Nyame bounced back in the fourth Republic in 1999 and bowed out in 2007, after serving for eight years.
“Don’t forget that Garba Umar (UTC) and Abubakar Sani Danladi all from the north, separately served as acting governor for more two years -from October 2012 to May 29, 2015.
“From Taraba North, the slot went to Taraba Central when Suntai was elected governor in 2007. Suntai’s tenure ended in 2015.”
According to Audu, Southern Taraba zone was the last to produce governor, when Darius Ishaku became governor in 2015 and was re-elected in 2019.
For their (Southern Taraba people’s) patience alone, the power shift is supposed to restart from Southern Taraba.
He stressed that, above all, the issue of zoning or power shift, “is not a constitutional matter,” but a “gentleman’s arrangement to ensure fairness and sense of belonging to all.”
“However, the most important thing we should be looking at is the credibility of candidates: who has the required qualities to serve well,” he added.
He noted that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has done the right thing by giving its gubernatorial ticket to someone from Taraba South.
He said: “The PDP candidate, Col. Agbu Kefas (Rtd.) -the former PDP state chairman, is one of the most qualified to take over from Darius Ishaku.”
He appreciated Governor Ishaku for his efforts in ensuring that Kefas -an ex-NIMASA chairman, clinched the party’s guber ticket.
