Taraba Governor, Danbaba Suntai Buys Hellicopter !!
***Flies It Himself Around
+ How He Squanders State’s Funds

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Danbaba Suntai was not a rich man before he became the Governor of Taraba State in the North Eastern  part of Nigeria in May 2007. In fact,  he rode to the Government House in a 1986 jalopy Honda car  that had seen better days.

 Danbaba  lived in an unfenced 2-bedroom apartment, having spent the better parts of the decade running  from prosecution over a fertiliser scam that he perpetuated, and the State Government was looking for him to face prosecution.

Somehow, he joined politics and when former president Obasanjo kicked against Danladi Baido as the PDP candidate, the then Governor  of  Taraba, Jolly Nyame wanted someone he could control, so he quickly pardoned Danbaba and drafted him as the PDP candidate. Today, Danbaba has spent his first term and finished the first year of the second term.

Danbaba Suntai’s  love for aircraft  and flying is however  the reason for this expose, and  how  this obsession  has run the state aground.

 By the time Danbaba  got to power, the State had two aircraft  parked in Kaduna since the airport in Jalingo, the state capital was not conducive. Danbaba therefore wanted a better airport, and  he blew about 9billion Naira on the airport, yet, it still could not  land small planes talk less of commercial ones.

 In his first term, governor Danbaba  acquired another small aircraft for the State. By last year he had added a second, but none of them  can land in the state.

 The latest gist however is the acquisition of a helicopter at the cost of  over 1billion Naira last month by the Governor.

According to our findings,  the State held  a fishing festival at Ibbi town about two months back, and during the festival, the governor  hired an helicopter which took him to the fishing festival. After the festival, he pleaded  with the pilot to spend more time in the state to teach him how to fly the chopper.

 Before then, yemojanews.com learnt that, Danbaba  had spent quality time despite his tight schedule as governor, attending the Aviation College in Jos, as well as another training school in America to learn how to fly. So after the fishing  festival, Governor Danbaba took delivery of the helicopter.

 According to sources, he has built a helipad inside the Government House so that he could fly the chopper out and in by himself, without having to drive through the town of Jalingo. We gathered that ever since he took delivery of the helicopter, Danbaba had been flying it himself, at times, just for leisure and sightseeing  in the state capital.

To those who live around the Government House, they could only but grumble over  the noise from the Governor’s take off and landing. We were told that since he brought in the helicopter, Governor Danbaba hardly travels round the State in his official cars, preferring the chopper

Meanwhile, the state is reeking in bankruptcy as the Governor has taken loans from banks to build airstrips in his village, plus the three aircarft he  bought as well as keeping the Jalingo airstrip functional.

 Based on this, once the state allocation get to the banks, the financial institutions  deduct their loans before leaving whatever  that remains for the government. Because of this, the day to day government business is run based on new loans from  banks.