The Taraba State Deputy Governor, Aminu Alkali, has resumed his official duty after being away since November 2024 on medical grounds.
A video clip made available to Channel Television showed Alkali seated in his office and cross-checking files with some of his aides present to welcome him back to work.
It was not immediately clear which day he resumed work.
During his absence, the governor’s deputy chief of staff, Emmanuel Lawson, was sent to oversee some responsibilities in his office, a move that sparked controversies, and he was seen as a replacement for the deputy governor.
However, Governor Agbu Kefas, in his first speech to address the growing concern and clear the air, recently said the move is a temporary administrative oversight for effective governance and service delivery to residents.
The governor revealed that he has no hidden agenda in handling the deputy governor’s ailment.
”I have no hidden agenda in handling issues relating to his health and have not gone contrary to the law by not choosing another to deputize me,” the governor of the North-East state told residents in the broadcast.
”I am optimistic he will recuperate, resume his official duties, and should it be otherwise, the constitution, my conscience, and the doctrine of necessity will decide his fate.”
In March, the Taraba State Government said Alkali was undergoing treatment but would return once that was finished.
During a briefing after the Taraba Executive Council Meeting, the state’s Commissioner for Information and Reorientation, Zainab Usman, said the deputy governor was hit by a stroke.
According to Zainab, the stroke affected the deputy governor’s ability to talk, but she said Alkali is recuperating and intends to resume soon.
”Sometimes around November last year, his excellency had an ailment that necessitated his movement to Abuja for treatment.
“From Abuja, he was later moved to Cairo, Egypt, for further checks, and the commissioner of health was delegated to check on his health status. Taraba residents need to sympathize with the executive council, his excellency, and the deputy governor as per his health condition.
“Ailment is something that is general and can happen to anyone. Before you approach a court of law to ascertain the health, fitness, or otherwise of any principal officer in the state, the human nature of a particular person should be taken into consideration first,” the commissioner said.