Danbaba Danfulani Suntai (30 June 1961 – 28 June 2017) was a Nigerian pharmacist and politician who served as the governor of Taraba State from 2007 to 2015. He was involved in a self piloted aircrash on 25 October 2012, which left him incapacitated for the remainder of his term.

Background

Danbaba Danfulani Suntai was born on 30 June 1961 at Suntai Town in

Bali Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller o ...

Local Government Area of Taraba State. He attended Federal Government College,

Kano Kano may refer to: Places *Kano State, a state in Northern Nigeria *Kano (city), a city in Nigeria, and the capital of Kano State ** Kingdom of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between the 10th and 14th centuries ** Sultanate of Kano, a Hausa kingdom betwee ...

(1975–1980) and the School of Basic Studies at

Ahmadu Bello University The Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) is a public research university located in Zaria, Nigeria, Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria. It was opened in 1962 as the University of Northern Nigeria. The university has four colleges, three schools, 18 faculties, ...

Zaria Zaria is a List of Nigerian cities by population, metropolitan city in Nigeria, located at present time within four local government areas in Kaduna State. It serves as the capital of the Zazzau Emirate Council and is one of the original sev ...

(1980–1981). He was admitted to Ahmadu Bello University where he read Pharmacy and graduated in 1984. He did his internship at Yola Specialist Hospital and his National Youth Service at the State Hospital, Ijaiye,

Abeokuta Abeokuta is the capital city of Ogun State located at the south western part of Nigeria. It is situated on the east bank of the Ogun River, near a group of rocky outcrops in a wooded savanna; north of Lagos by railway, or by water. , Abeokut ...

Ogun State Ogun State is a state in southwestern Nigeria. It is bordered to the south by Lagos State and the Bight of Benin, to the east by Ondo State, and to the north by Oyo and Osun states while its western border forms part of the national borde ...

(1985–1986). He then worked at the General Hospital, Ganye in old

Gongola State Gongola State is a former administrative division of Nigeria. It was created on 3 February 1976 from the Adamawa and Sardauna Provinces of North State, together with the Wukari Division of the then Benue-Plateau State. It existed until 27 Aug ...

until 1991.

Early political career

Danbaba Suntai was elected Chairman of Bali Local Government (1989–1993). Joining the Taraba State civil service, he was Director-General of the Taraba State Ministry of Agriculture and National Resources (1994–1996). In the 1999 elections, he was State chairman of the All People's Party (APP), when the PDP narrowly defeated the

All Nigeria People's Party The All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) was a political party in Nigeria. The ANPP was a household party in the extreme north of Nigeria, primarily due to its mass appeal among more religious voters. It was the strongest opposition party, controllin ...

(ANPP). In 2000, he became Chairman of Taraba State Investment and Properties Ltd. He was appointed Commissioner of the Ministry of Education (2000–2003), and worked at the Ministry of Health (2003–2005) before becoming Secretary to the Taraba State Government (2005–2007).

Governor of Taraba State

In the run-up to the 2007 elections, Danladi Baido won the PDP gubernatorial primaries but was later disqualified. Two months before the election, the PDP national secretariat replaced Baido with Danbaba Suntai, who had not stood in the primaries. Baido lent his support to Suntai, and in April 2007, Suntai won election as Governor of Taraba State. After the elections, relations between Suntai and Baido soured. The unsuccessful Action Congress candidate challenged the switch of PDP candidates and in February 2008, Baido joined this suit. In February 2009, Danladi Baido petitioned the Inspector General of Police, Mike Okiro over alleged SMS messages from Danbaba Suntai threatening to harm him and his family if he continued to appeal the election. In June 2009, Baido claimed that an attempt had been made to assassinate him, linking the incident to the alleged threats. During his tenure as governor, Danbaba Suntai made efforts to fight corruption, crime and lack of discipline, while delegating authority and providing funds to the Local Government Areas. In January 2009, a group of Concerned Indigenes of Taraba State sent a petition to the

Economic and Financial Crimes Commission The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is a Nigerian law enforcement and anti-graft agency that investigates financial crimes and unknown transactions such as advance fee fraud (419 fraud) and money laundering. The EFCC was establ ...

(EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), with a copy to President

Umaru Yar'Adua Umaru Musa Yar'Adua (; 16 August 19515 May 2010) was a Nigerian politician who served as the president of Nigeria from 2007 until his death in May 2010. He won the Nigerian presidential election held on 21 April 2007, and was sworn in on 29 Ma ...

, concerning alleged fraudulent financial practices in Suntai's administration. Claims included unnecessary imports of foreign cars, use of foreign rather than local workers, and inflated road building contracts. In October 2009, Suntai said he strongly supported religious and moral teaching aimed at reducing juvenile delinquency, crime and other vices. He said his administration was strongly behind both the Christian and Islamic faiths since both religions teach peace, love and unity. He initiated reforms to make local government administration more transparent. Among other effects, the monthly pension bill dropped from N33 million to N22 million, while pensioners began getting more regular payments. In November 2009, Danbaba Suntai commissioned a N540 million computerized stone-crushing and asphalt plant to provide road building materials. The plant was constructed by the state government but to be operated on a fully commercial basis. He ran successfully for reelection on 26 April 2011.

Accident

On 25 October 2012, Suntai was piloting a

Cessna 208 The Cessna 208 Caravan is a utility aircraft produced by Cessna. The project was commenced on November 20, 1981, and the prototype first flew on December 9, 1982. The production model was certified by the FAA in October 1984 and its Cargoma ...

and crashed near

Yola Airport Yola Airport is an airport serving Yola, the capital of the Adamawa State of Nigeria. It is northwest of Yola. The airport has night landing capabilities, but for most flights in non-international designated airports, the Federal Airports Aut ...

while on final approach. He survived the crash but was left with serious health challenges. He remained in office until the end of his second term on 29 May 2015.

Death

Suntai's crash left him with serious health challenges. He died on 28 June 2017, almost 5 years after his crash in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, two days to his 56th birthday

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Suntai, Danbaba 1961 births 2017 deaths Governors of Taraba State Peoples Democratic Party state governors of Nigeria People from Taraba State