. Governor unable to recognise visitors
According to a report by SaharaReporters, an online news portal, the governor , who was seriously injured when his plane crashed on October 25 in Yola, capital of Adamawa State, could also not recognise members of a presidential delegation that visited him at a hospital in Hanover, Germany.
Quoting an authoritative source, the online news portal said the trip to see the governor was highly secretive. Members of the delegation had officially travelled to Vatican City in Rome to witness the consecration of Archbishop John Onaiyekan as a Cardinal of the Catholic Church. After the ceremony in Italy, the delegation then made a quick detour to Germany to see the injured governor.
The report said the trip was put together by Gladys Modupeola Quist-Adebiyi, a staff of the Protocol Department at the Presidency and was led by Senate President, David Mark. The delegation included Governor Ibrahim Yakowa of Kaduna State, President Goodluck Jonathan’s chief of staff, Mike Oghiadomhe, also on the delegation was John Kennedy Opara, the secretary of the Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission (NCPC) and the Chaplain of the Presidential Villa Chapel, Venerable Obioma Onwuzurumba.
Quoting a source, SaharaReporters said members of the delegation were shocked to see Mr. Suntai in a vegetative state. “His condition was so bad that they could not publicly disclose his condition after they returned to Nigeria,” said the source. The governor was injured in the crash of the small plane he was piloting.
The crash happened a short distance from the Yola airport. Initial reports from eyewitnesses said he had died, but it later emerged that he had survived the crash with critical injuries. He was transferred to the National Hospital in Abuja before being airlifted to Germany after President Jonathan had visited him and given a rosy picture of his condition. Four state officials travelling with Mr. Suntai in the crashed plane were treated in hospitals in Adamawa and later transferred to Germany for treatment after a public outcry.
Since Mr. Suntai’s airlift to Germany, officials of the Taraba State government have engaged in propaganda, claiming that the governor was making remarkable recovery. But our sources, including an official of the state government, admitted that Mr. Suntai’s mental faculty had deteriorated since the accident and that his memory was virtually impaired.
“It is possible that he suffered brain damage because there was some delay before he could be taken abroad,” said a state official.
Contacted by SaharaReporters, a Taraba-born political activist who is based in Abuja, said he had also heard about the visit to the ailing governor by Senate President Mark’s delegation. He wondered if Mr. Mark’s silence on Governor Suntai’s health status signalled a scheme by President Jonathan to delay the swearing-in of the deputy governor as the substantive governor.
However, the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the governor, Hassan Mijinyawa who spoke with another online news portal 247ureports. com, refuted the report saying the governor had not suffered brain damage. The CPS indicated that the governor had been responding to treatment and had been able to receive and make telephone calls.
“He has been talking on the telephone” said the Chief Press Secretary who added that the governor was initially incapacitated immediately following the plane crash .
National Mirror
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