Published Nov 30, 2024
By Newspointer
Taraba state Government through the Special Adviser on Media and Digital Communications, Emmanuel Bello has Refuted a report from the Sahara Reporters published Saturday 30 November 2024 saying “Governor Agbu Kefas spend N2.6billion On Office Furniture, Zero Funds On Health Centres, Hospitals In Nine Months”.
Emmanuel Bello while refuted the report said the Sahara Reporters platform characteristically recently swooped on Governor Agbu Kefas of Taraba state in a scathing report. Not caring about journalistic ethics as usual, the now notorious medium flashed a headline tailored to cause disaffection and anger against the people’s governor.
The Special Adviser said Judging by the headline alone, Sahara Reporters should have leave with the impression that this captures the achievements of Dr Agbu Kefas in the last months. “But, as they say, the devil is in the details, and this rushed up, cooked up report did not have the time for accuracy or even the decency to fact check as usual”.
Bello further said “as you read the report, you fail to get the answers that you seek” which office was furnished with such an amount? How much does the dear state get each month? How is the governor able to pay for free education? How have we kept our obligations to servicing loans and debts of the past? What financial sagacity has helped us through the national economic downturn imposed by a pernicious inflation? How did the governor approve the payments of gratuities and pensions never serviced in the last 13 years? How indeed has the governor ensured the once dangerous state is now safe for residents and investors alike?
He said ” the hard work of reporting is in digging deeper and examining all the variables. A news item must be anchored on the backstory and the entirety of the issue. But taking small aspects of the tale and retelling it for sensationalism is cheap. And unprofessional”.
Bello therefore said, if we are really interested in examining the last one year and months, we must remember that Governor Kefas has against all odds
Introduced free and compulsory education in both primary and secondary schools. He has also slashed tertiary tuition fees by half.
Paid backlog of pensions and gratuities that have been neglected for years.
Remodeled the dilapidated government house to meet modern standards. Also remodeled are the House of Assembly; the Palliatives Market, etc
Revived the rebuilding and equipping of Takum, Ussa General Hospitals. Under his watch, the General Hospital Wukari is now a full-fledged Federal Teaching Hospital.
Got delivery of hundreds of tractors from the Czech Republic for revolutionized agriculture.
Bello said all of these in a short while, a new budget is afoot right now, and it already shows signs of more transformations in the coming months ahead.
Earlier Sahara Reporters had reports that the Taraba State budget performance documents has shown that Governor Kefas Agbu spent the sum of N2.6billion on office furniture and fittings between January and September 2024.
According to the report by Sahara Reporters the document, in the third quarter of 2024 alone, the state spent N2billion on office furniture and fittings.
They said In contrast, the construction and provision of electricity took N681 million in the state, N1.3billion was spent on construction/provision of water facilities, construction/provision of public schools stood at N1.4billion.
All of these monies are lesser than what the state spent on office furniture and fittings in the same period.
Infact, construction/provision of health centres and hospitals took zero naira in the nine month period between January and September, 2024.
Rehabilitation and repairs of water facilities took zero naira in the same period, rehabilitation/repairs of public schools took N1.7billion, rehabilitation/repairs of agricultural facilities stood at N617 million.
While the state spent N2.6billion on office furniture and fittings, it spent only N496.5million on erosion and flood control.
Already, Taraba State has 1.37million poor persons.
Already 48% of children in Taraba are said to be deprived access to education, 83% of households are also said to be deprived access to sanitary facilities.
Another 86% households are said to be deprived access to clean drinking water.
The lavish expenditure continues unchecked despite calls for more prudence in n the management of government resources.
Many state governments across the country rely heavily on loans to finance their budgets citing poor revenue.
There have however been concerns on transparency and accountability in the management of funds which are available to states at different levels.
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