Danbaba Suntai

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.

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 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). 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 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.

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, two days to his 56th birthday