The deputy governor of Taraba State, Alhaji Aminu Alkari, has been shielded from both the press and the public after returning from his four-month trip to Egypt to seek medical treatment.
The deputy governor reportedly left Jalingo, Taraba State capital, on the 11th November 2024 for medications after he suffered from a partial stroke.
LEADERSHIP gathered that after spending three months in Egypt, Alkari returned to Abuja barely a month ago where he was not allowed to be accessed by his handlers, the deputy governor further proceeded and landed in the late hours of Sunday at Danbaba Suntai Airport Jalingo on Sunday 4th May 2025.
Our correspondent reliably gathered that the deputy governor landed at the Jalingo airport at exactly 1:40 a.m. on Sunday, while everyone was already asleep.
Workers at the airport revealed to our correspondent that Alkari was brought in on a chartered private jet. The airport workers also said two vehicles believed to be owned by the Taraba State government were stationed at the airport for a few hours, waiting for the jet before the deputy governor’s arrival.
“We were not allowed access to the jet, we only discovered that the deputy governor was brought on the jet, after they left, that was when the security was telling us that he was the one,” an airport worker disclosed to our correspondent.
LEADERSHIP visited the office of the deputy governor located behind Presidential Lodge along 6 Brigade Command to Specialist Hospital road and gathered that Alkari was not in the office and was expected to resume work on Monday.
A close relative of the deputy governor, who spoke to LEADERSHIP on condition of anonymity, said strong instructions were issued that nobody should access the deputy governor until the return of state Governor Agbu Kefas in Jalingo.
When asked about the resumption of his official duty, the source said, “His return is not about resumption. The instruction is that the governor return to the state first before anybody can access him or any official statement will be issued.”
When contacted, the special adviser to Taraba State Governor on Media and Digital Communication Hon. Emmanuel Bello refused to make comment on the development.
“Please, go and call his press secretary, I’m not his press secretary to speak for him,” Bello stated, although it is on record that the Taraba State deputy governor has not appointed a press secretary to his office since he was sworn in on May 29, 2023.
