Anxiety over long absence of Gov Ishaku from Taraba

EMMANUEL AWARI, Jalingo

It is no longer news that Governor Darius Dickson Ishaku has joined other league of Governors who runs the affairs of their states from Abuja or even Overseas.

There has been growing anxiety among political stakeholders in Taraba State over the long absence of the Governor of Ishaku from office. The Governor has been away since 22nd of December, 2019.

Governor Ishaku was last seen publicly in Taraba State on the 19th of December, 2019 when he presented the 2020 appropriation bill to the State House of Assembly.

According to those who expressed worries over the long absence of the governor in the State, the whereabouts of the Governor is a concern to all the people of the State particularly when activities of the State have been affected as a result of his absence.

Hon. Rimamde Bitrus, a former aspirant for the House of Representatives on the platform of  All Progressives Congresses, APC, from the southern part of the state, while speaking with our Correspondent  over the matter said almost every activity in the state had been put on hold since the absence of the governor two months ago.

Rimamde said the rumours about the governor that he was sick should be clearly addressed by his handlers not just by displaying the Governor’s pictures on Facebook but also to explain why the Governor was away from the State for over two months without reasons.

“Sometimes they will tell us he is in London, sometimes they will say he is in Abuja or Kaduna, why is he not in the State where he was elected to work as a Governor?

“I’m very hopeful that next time the people of the State are going to polls, they will know the kind of candidate to vote for. We should shun politics of money and give priority to the people that have interest of the State at heart”, he said.

Rimande urged the Governor to return to the state and work for the people, who elected him.

Also speaking on the matter, the state Chairman of APC, Barrister Ibrahim Tukur El-Sudi, wondered why the Governor has decided to desert the State without due process.

“The governor’s absence from the state since last year has crippled government activities, as civil servants have also started to desert offices. APC in the state would treat all legitimate paths to put the right pegs in the desired holes”.

The state secretariat, as at the time of filling this report, has become a shadow of itself.

Some civil servants agree that government’s activities have been relocated to T. Y Danjuma House, Abuja.

Ishaku’s long absence is also not going down well with members of the State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, majority of who believe that if such action was not urgently addressed, it will have a negative impact on the Party in 2023.

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