Sylvanus Viashima, Jalingo
The Supreme Court recently passed a landmark judgment against the Taraba State governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the last election, Sani Danladi, leading to the subsequent withdrawal of his case at the tribunal challenging the election of governor Darius Ishaku as the state governor in the last general election.
The Supreme Court in its ruling declared that Danladi was not qualified to contest the governorship election because of the inconsistency with his date of birth.This is the third time in about five years that the Supreme Court in giving rulings on issues that concern the one time acting governor of Taraba State.
While some political observers believe that this is the end of a Sani Danladi political era, others say he will keep pushing till he attains the peak of his political career.
Danladi rose to prominence after he emerged the running mate to late Governor Danbaba Suntai and eventually the deputy governor of Taraba state in 2007 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Suntai used to be in the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) but picked the PDP’s governorship ticket after the national secretariat of the party rejected Danladi, Baido as its candidate. Danladi, protégé of Baido at the time, was called in as running mate to Suntai as compensation to Baido.
Suntai and Danladi enjoyed a cordial relationship in the first tenure but when speculations began to swirl that Danladi may replace his principal, the relationship between both men eventually collapsed. The strain in their relationship became noticeably sour and it eventually led to the unceremonious removal of Danladi from office in a botched impeachment.
However, maintaining a low key, Danladi began a strenuous legal battle to challenge his impeachment. He lost up to the Appeal Court, but still continued to the Supreme Court which ruled in his favour and he was reinstated to his previous position. Political watchers familiar with Taraba politics told Daily Sun that the forces that sent Danladi packing in the first place were the same forces that ganged up to ensure his return in a desperate move to oust the then acting governor, Garba Umar, who was a major threat to the actualisation of an alleged “Southern Taraba Governor agenda”.
Danladi returned to power barely six months to the end of the tenure. He had the opportunity to gun for the governorship of the state or throw his weight behind the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Aisha Alhassan, who had openly identified with him at his time of need or go along with those who helped ensure his return.
Daily Sun further gathered that as acting governor, Danladi did not only pay himself for all the time he was away, but also paid himself all his severance package. Investigations by Daily Sun revealed that in the run up to the 2015 polls, former acting governor, Garba Umar, Lau and former Governor Jolly Nyame, picked the nomination form to run for the Taraba-North senatorial district. While Nyame did not make any reasonable push, Umar and Lau were the front runners. But at a meeting in Abuja where negotiations for positions were made, Umar was handed the ticket.
However, once they were back in Taraba, Danladi, being the acting governor at the time, was said to have mounted reasonable pressure on Umar to abandon the ticket for him and that was how he got on the ballot. Also because he enjoyed a good relationship with the then party’s candidate who is now the governor, no one raised an eyebrow over the development.
Ironically, the good relationship he enjoyed with Governor Darius Ishaku before and shortly after the election was short lived. It became apparent that the duo were no longer in good terms following speculations that Danladi was nursing the ambition to run against Ishaku for the governorship of the state in 2019. He had to address a press conference to debunk the rumours.
Sources told Daily Sun that the speculation that he was going to run for the governorship of the state was the beginning of his problems. The same forces that helped him return as the acting governor and eventually as senator now turned against him, again.
Also, the Supreme Court that ruled in his favour for his return as acting governor on November 23, 2014, sacked him again in June 23, 2017. Now on July 5, 2019, the Supreme Court once again ruled against him.
Reacting to the ruling, Taraba state governor Darius Ishaku said that the judgment was ‘ punishment from God to Danladi for the many evils he has committed against the state’.
Ishaku said: “I thank God for the victory and verdict at the Supreme Court. As you know, I was not a party to the case, it was an internal issue which ended up against him that ab initio, he was not qualified to be a candidate and therefore the votes of the APC in the state in the last election were all wasted. And I also thank God that this Supreme Court verdict is coming at the end of it all otherwise, we would have been hearing stories of if I had been left to stand this election. I am happy that he contested in the election and I won with a landslide victory of over a hundred thousand votes.
“I am also glad that the Supreme Court is removing him on another offence entirely which tells you that God is not only a Nigerian but that he resides here in Taraba state because it is only in Taraba State that whatever you come and do, God will punish you appropriately. I was not the one who went to Court. It was a case of their party and themselves but thank God that today I am the ultimate beneficiary. So all I will say is that I give gratitude to God and we will do our best to make sure these four years count better.”
However, for a chieftain of the APC in the state and Nigerian envoy to the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, Hassan Ardo, he said: “The Supreme Court verdict is an act of God that should be taken in good faith, while the stakeholders in the party continue to put heads together to see how best they can wrestle power from the confused PDP led administration so that they can provide a sense of governance and direction to the people of the state”.
Emmanuel Bello, a public affairs analyst believes that not even this Supreme Court can subdue the political doggedness of Danladi.
“He does not ever give up, does he? When we impeached him, we thought he was over. Not knowing that he was hiding in the bush plotting to strike, like a python. He returned to Taraba, bigger and better. Again, when we sent him packing at the Senate, it seemed to be his end. But he didn’t give up. He came out stronger and more vibrant, pulling unprecedented crowd while he campaigned. This guy is a stubborn fighter! You have got to like him. Or at least respect him.
“This might be a setback but you need to know that he has not been barred from holding political office. Like I said, he is a dogged fighter to the core. So it is highly delusional to think that this is the end of his political career. He is still a young person with teeming supporters and sympathisers and there is no limit to how much he can still achieve politically. So for me, I know this is a setback, but definitely, not the end. He could bounce back even better after taking his time to re-strategise. You cannot predict in what form he will come back but trust me, that would happen”.
But the odds against Danladi are high. When he decided to take sides with governor Darius Ishaku in the run-up to the 2015 election against Senator Aisha Alhassan who supported him when most people deserted him, he created distrust with the then governorship candidate of the APC that would fester. Later, the duo came together under the umbrella of the APC and could have mend fences, but again, Danladi was one of the key players that made sure Alhassan never got the ticket and eventually had to leave the party.
By implication, her supporters who she moved to the UDP with are considered opponents to Danladi. Even within the ranks of the APC, some of the key stakeholders are not comfortable with him because of how he emerged at the party’s governorship candidate during the party primaries in the state. The forum of aspirants, comprising ten other aspirants condemned him for allegedly outsmarting them in the primary and most of them either worked against his election of remained indifferent. Consequently, their supporters also either worked against him or were on the fence.
As it stands now, Danladi still has a crowd of supporters but he equally has adversaries both from within his political cycle and outside. For him to make a successful rebound, he would have to reconcile with the people who are currently aggrieved with him.
More so, there seems to be a major political alliance brewing between the erstwhile foes, Ishaku and Alhassan. Recently, the governor said visited her residence after she returned from a major medical surgery abroad. This was followed by an official visit to the governor where Senator Alhassan, also called Mama Taraba, led a team of top UDP officials in the state on a courtesy call on the governor to formally congratulate him on his victory at the polls.
For many political observers, this is the prelude to a major political alliance. If this plays out well and Alhassan and Ishaku join forces, they will probably become one of the strongest alliances in the state. And both have a common enemy in Danladi. His ability to confront such alliances in the nearest future will also count if he is to make a serious come back politically.