By Saidu Adamu, Jalingo
The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) has rated Taraba State as the worst state in the country in terms of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) for the first quarter of the year.
In a data released recently, the FAAC rated Lagos, Rivers, Oyo, Bayelsa and Kano among the top Five States respectively while Taraba takes an inglorious place at the bottom of the ladder while Imo, Cross River, Abia and Zamfara States followed among the worst respectively.
Based on the statistics, Taraba State generated an abysmal ₦2.33B in the first quarter of the year as against the over ₦10B for the preceding quarter.
The Chairman of State IGR Agency Gen Jeremiah Faransa could not be reached for comments on the reasons for the drastic drop as he did not pick or return calls to his certified line.
Similarly, the Commonwealth Institute of Advance and Professional Studies (CIAPS) has rated Taraba State as the worst in terms of governance performance index with barely 20% as against 73% from Kaduna State which top the chart.
Our Correspondent recalls that Taraba State government held an International investment summit recently to attract foreign investors to the State.
Reacting to the reports, the former State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress APC Alhaji Hassan Jika Ardo said that he has been vindicated for alleging that there was gross misgovernance in Taraba State.
Ardo said that “it is saddening that our dear Taraba State is rated least in everything. Only recently, Billions of Naira was wasted on a jamboree investment summit. I remember raising the alarm time and again that there is no governance in Taraba.
“These reports have just vindicated my position. We hope that this will serve as a wake up call for the governor to sit up and start working instead of running around the world in the name of attracting investors”.
