Supreme Court sacks acting Taraba governor

Garba Umar, the acting governor of Taraba state, has been sacked by the Supreme Court.

The former deputy governor, Sanni Danladi, who was impeached two years ago, has now been reinstated and will be the acting governor until the governor, Dambaba Suntai, is fit to return to office.

The seven justices of the court agreed that Danladi was not given fair hearing.

In the lead judgment delivered ‎by Sylvester Ngwuta, the court held that right from the composition of the seven-man panel, Danladi was denied fair hearing.

It described as illegal the sitting of the 19 members of the state house of assembly at a guest house belonging to the majority leader to prepare the impeachment notice.

The sitting should have been at the chambers of the house, the court ruled, saying the lawmakers breached section 188 of the 1999 constitution.

In October 2012, Danladi was impeached by the Taraba state house of assembly for “gross misconduct”.

His lawyer, Kanu Agabi, had challenged the competence of the state acting chief judge, Josephine Tukur, who set up the panel that investigated Danladi.

He argued, among other things, that Tukur had overstayed in her acting position by three months.

But he lost at both the high court in Taraba and the court of appeal which insisted that the impeachment followed due process.

Umar was appointed deputy governor after Danladi’s impeachment.

Suntai was involved in an air mishap a month after the impeachment and is still undergoing rehabilitation.