From Nahum Sule, Jalingo
The former member representing Wukari/Ibi Federal Constituency, Hon. Danjuma Usman Shiddi, has issued a strong appeal to the Taraba State House of Assembly and key stakeholders, urging greater fiscal accountability and transparency in the management of the state’s finances.
In an open letter addressed to the state legislature, leaders of thought, youth leaders, and political stakeholders, Shiddi — popularly known as Danji SS — warned that Taraba was “quietly bleeding” under the weight of mounting debts and unchecked borrowing.
“The pulse of our state grows faint, and if one listens closely enough, one can hear the low groan of a people whose future is being mortgaged without their consent,” he wrote, describing the situation as a “silent financial crisis.”
According to Shiddi, Taraba State has accumulated borrowings and financial commitments estimated at over ₦1.2 trillion within the last two years — an amount he said was unsustainable for a state with an Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of only ₦10.87 billion as recorded in 2023.
He cited loans and facilities including a ₦206.78 billion bank loan approved in 2023, a ₦350 billion bond issued in early 2025, and a $268.63 million (₦510 billion) facility obtained from the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID), in addition to a ₦50 billion local government infrastructure loan from the United Bank for Africa.
Shiddi questioned the purpose and visibility of these funds.
“We are told that the EBID loan will fund energy, agriculture, and industrialization — beautiful promises indeed. But where are the projects? Where are they located? Who are the contractors? What are the timelines, and at what cost?” he queried.
“In Taraba, questions die before they are answered. Silence has become our official policy, and applause, our proof of progress.”
The former lawmaker also referenced revenue inflows from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), estimating that between mid-2023 and mid-2025, Taraba State and its local councils collectively received ₦437.21 billion in federal allocations. Despite these figures, he lamented that “the roads remain cratered, the schools dilapidated, hospitals gasping for breath, and workers lamenting unpaid wages.”
Shiddi compared Taraba’s fiscal posture to other states, noting that while governors in Zamfara, Nasarawa, and Ogun have pursued self-sustaining growth through internal revenue generation, Taraba has leaned heavily on debt.
“Our borrowing now exceeds what the state will earn in four years,” he warned. “This is not progress; it is plunder — the slow strangulation of a people who deserve better.”
He urged the Taraba State House of Assembly to exercise its constitutional oversight powers under Sections 128 and 129, calling for an immediate suspension of new loan approvals pending full disclosure and audit of existing facilities.
“You were not elected to clap,” Shiddi told the lawmakers. “Oversight is not rebellion; it is responsibility. If you cannot represent the truth, then you represent nothing.”
Citing Ogun State’s success in boosting its IGR to ₦126 billion, Shiddi argued that Taraba, with its vast land and mineral resources, could replicate such achievements if governance focused on productivity rather than borrowing.
He further appealed to traditional rulers, elders, and community leaders to advise Governor Agbu Kefas to “steer his vision toward productivity, not debt.”
Concluding, the ex-lawmaker stated that his call was driven not by malice but by patriotism.
“Let posterity record that when Taraba was being drowned in silence, some of us raised our voices — not out of anger, but out of duty. Because when truth dies, nations follow,” he wrote.
