He is going to run. That is what a source close to former deputy governor of Taraba state, Alhaji Garba Umar, told KWARARAFA REPORTERS Sunday in an interview.
The competent source said Umar is not sparing anything as far as the contest is concerned, noting that the Supreme Court ousted politician, is well armed with funds and fans to run.
Umar, it would be recalled, was The deputy governor to late Governor Danbaba Danfulani Suntai. After the governor's fatal plane crash, Umar (popularly known as UTC) got locked in a war of attrition with Suntai's political associates, especially Senator Emmanuel Bwacha.
A group called the cabal, headed by Senator Bwacha, emerged and had accused Umar of trying to upstage his ailing boss at the time. Umar, on his part, argued that he did not want a cabal to take over the state, noting that his boss was too ill to run the state. He stressed that he would not allow "outsiders" to run the state by proxy.
At the height of the controversy, the Supreme Court ruled on a matter brought to it by UTC's predecessor, Mr. Sani Abubakar Danladi. The verdict ended Umar's troubled reign.
Since then, UTC, KR learnt, had retreated to the trenches, bidding his time and planning. The source said UTC still has plenty followers in the state rooting for him.
But watchers believe his aspiration may be dead on arrival, considering his records in office. UTC had been accused of emptying the state's treasury to a tune of N19b, a charge his team have stoutly denied. Another hurdle before UTC is the fact that the incumbent governor, Arc. Darius Ishaku, from southern Taraba, is billed for an eight year tenure in the power rotation equation of the state. Both the north and central zones of the state have had an eight year go at the governorship.
Source: Kwararafa Reporters
