A new review of the Taraba State budget performance documents has revealed that Governor Kefas Agbu spent a whopping N2.6 billion on office furniture and fittings between January and September 2024.
According to the document, in the third quarter of 2024 alone, the state spent N2billion on office furniture and fittings.
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.
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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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