The Taraba State Commissioner for Finance, Budget and Economic Planning, Dr Sarah Enoch Adi, has dismissed claims by opposition political parties that the state is currently burdened by more than N1 trillion in domestic and foreign debt.
Adi made the clarification during an interactive session with journalists, saying the claim that Taraba’s debt profile stands at about N1.2 trillion does not reflect the latest publicly available records of the Debt Management Office (DMO).
According to the commissioner, DMO data as of December 31, 2025, put Taraba’s domestic debt stock at approximately N85.51 billion.
The DMO’s official records corroborate the figure, listing Taraba’s domestic debt at N85.509 billion as of December 31, 2025.
The DMO also reported Taraba’s external debt at $48.04 million as of the same date.
Adi said the figures should be distinguished from approved financing facilities, proposed borrowing programmes and loans that have not yet been disbursed.
She explained that the administration of Governor Agbu Kefas secured a N206 billion loan facility after assuming office, when, according to her, the state’s treasury was empty. She said the administration had substantially repaid the facility and remained committed to clearing the outstanding balance before the end of its tenure.
The commissioner also addressed concerns surrounding a proposed N350 billion capital-market facility. She said the state had applied for the facility, but had not received the entire amount.
According to her, the proposed bond programme is structured to be accessed in tranches of N35 billion and remains subject to regulatory and statutory requirements as well as market conditions. She stressed that an approved or proposed financing programme should not automatically be treated as existing debt.
The distinction is significant because the DMO’s December 2025 data show that the combined domestic debt of all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory stood at about N4.36 trillion, with Taraba accounting for N85.51 billion.
Adi further disclosed that the state and the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) signed three financing agreements worth about $268 million on June 26, 2026. The agreements are intended to finance an integrated industrial park, irrigated rice production and processing, and a 50-megawatt solar power project.
However, she stressed that signing the agreements does not mean the funds have already been disbursed, noting that the facilities remain subject to conditions precedent, regulatory processes and statutory approvals before drawdown.
The commissioner said the state government would continue to welcome legitimate scrutiny of its finances but urged members of the public to distinguish between actual debt obligations and financing arrangements that have either been approved but not drawn down or are still awaiting the necessary approvals.
She said the Kefas administration’s borrowing policy was guided by the need to finance productive infrastructure, expand economic activity and improve citizens’ welfare while ensuring that repayment capacity and debt sustainability remain central to financing decisions.
Adi also reaffirmed the government’s commitment to transparency and accountability in public borrowing and capital-market transactions.
The latest DMO figures provide independent support for the commissioner’s central claim: Taraba’s officially recorded domestic debt was N85.51 billion at the end of 2025, while its external debt stood at $48.04 million not a combined debt stock of N1.2 trillion.
