Taraba govt contacts Nigerian Medical body over Gov. Suntai’s fitness

Following the offer made by the Nigerian
Medical Association , NMA, on Sunday to
render its services free of charge in
ascertaining the medical fitness of the
state governor, Danbaba Suntai, the state
has commenced informal communication
with the medical group.
The president of the NMA, Osahon
Enabulele, told PREMIUM TIMES that the
state government had reached out
“informally” to the NMA after the group
made known its offer to examine the
governor’s fitness.
“We do not work and depend on informal
communication, we want to have a formal
engagement so that what we do is going
to be in the public domain and open to a
lot of open evaluation,” he said. “So, we
are clear of the fact that we don’t want to
have any informal engagement with
anybody, we want it formal so that it
would be with the necessary approval and
statute.”
He said this would not be the first time
the NMA would be providing a platform to
resolving the crisis surrounding Mr.
Suntai’s health.
According to him, when the governor was
out of the country, the body issued a
statement on how to resolve the
controversies surrounding his health.
Mr. Enabulele also debunked concerns
that the offer by the NMA was politically
motivated.
“We are part of the system; we are also
Nigerians that have been extremely
displeased with the political seesaw event
that have taken place in Taraba over the
affairs of the state government as a result
of the debate over the medical fitness of
the governor of Taraba state,” he said.
“And we think it is an unnecessary
heating up of the system; one which ought
to have been appropriately checked if the
right things were done because when the
issue of the fitness of a governor is in
doubt, then the necessary instrument of
the state needed to have been explored
especially with regards to constituting an
appropriate medical board to of course,
ascertain the medical fitness or otherwise
of the governor without politicizing the
matter.”
He said the group’s drive was strictly to
help resolve the crisis in Taraba state.
“What is amazing to us is that we are
increasingly being presented as a people
who perhaps do not learn from historic
experiences. We think we need to put a
stop to this seesaw event; we need to put
a stop to this dingdong affair and ensure
that the needful is done. So, the NMA
wants to, in a most professional and
unbiased way give some assistance to the
people of Taraba state and if we are
called upon to do that, we think we can
immediately put to rest this whole
question of the fitness of the governor so
that peace, progress, and development
can return to Taraba state” he explained.
When PREMIUM TIMES contacted the
spokesperson to the acting Taraba state
governor, Kefas Sule, he said he would be
discussing the NMA’s offer with the
governor on Wednesday.