Taraba Government Rejects ₦1.2tn Debt Claim, Says State Debt Stands at ₦85.5bn

The Taraba State Government has rejected claims that the state’s debt has climbed to more than ₦1.2 trillion under Governor Agbu Kefas, describing the figure as misleading and unsupported by official debt records.

The Commissioner for Finance, Budget and Economy, Sarah Adi, said the latest data from the Debt Management Office (DMO) showed Taraba’s domestic debt stood at about ₦85.51 billion as of December 31, 2025. She said the figure was about ₦2.45 billion lower than the ₦87.96 billion domestic debt reported for September 2022, before the current administration took office.

The commissioner said the government welcomed scrutiny of its finances but warned against combining approved loans, proposed financing and existing debt to arrive at a figure that does not represent the state’s actual outstanding obligations.

Adi also addressed about ₦206.78 billion in financing facilities approved by the Taraba State House of Assembly in 2023 involving Zenith Bank, United Bank for Africa, Fidelity Bank and Keystone Bank. She explained that the approved value of a facility does not automatically represent the amount drawn or currently owed because repayments and restructuring may have changed the outstanding balances.

The government also disputed suggestions that Taraba had already borrowed ₦350 billion through a proposed capital-market programme. According to the commissioner, the programme has not delivered ₦350 billion to the state, while an initial tranche of about ₦35 billion is under consideration and remains subject to the required regulatory and market processes.

On external borrowing, the government said Taraba’s debt rose from approximately US$46.47 million at the end of 2022 to US$48.04 million by December 2025. It said the relatively modest increase would continue to be managed with attention to exchange-rate risks and the state’s ability to repay its foreign-currency obligations.

The administration also pointed to three financing agreements worth about US$268 million signed with the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development in June 2026. The funds are intended for an integrated industrial park, irrigated rice production and processing, and a 50-megawatt solar power project, although the government stressed that signing financing agreements does not mean the funds have already been disbursed.

Adi said four separate categories must be distinguished when discussing Taraba’s finances: existing debt, approved facilities, outstanding balances and proposed or undisbursed financing. She maintained that adding the headline figures from each category together and presenting the total as the state’s current debt would give the public a false picture of its financial position.

The government said the Kefas administration would continue to base borrowing decisions on development needs, repayment capacity and transparency. It urged political actors to campaign with verifiable figures and said the key questions should be how much was approved, how much was actually drawn, what has been repaid, what remains outstanding and how borrowed funds are being used.