TARABA STATE SPEAKER IS DEAD!

The Speaker of the Taraba State House of Assembly, Mr. Haruna Tsokwa, is dead. He was said to have passed on in the early hours of Monday at the Federal Medical Centre, Jalingo.

Tsokwa, 47, took over as the Speaker after the former speaker, Mr. Isa Ajiya, was impeached.

The speaker, a known loyalist of Taraba acting Governor, Umar Garba, is engaged in a legal tussle with the ailing Governor Danbaba Suntai, over his refusal to accept a letter transmitted by the governor signifying his intention to resume duties after a 10-month absence on medical treatment abroad.

It was not immediately ascertained how he died, but our correspondent gathered that he suddenly took ill on Sunday and was rushed to the hospital where he gave up early Monday.