The Taraba state government has debunked allegations raised by a Pro- Senator Emmanuel Bwacha group, Bwacha Political Organisation against the Governor of Taraba state, Architect Dirus Ishaku, even as the government insists the lawmaker was only out to impress his new party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and cannot be trusted.
The Bwacha Political Organisation at a press conference, Monday in Abuja, had accused the governor of massive looting, bad governance and dividing the people along religious lines.
According to the group led by Rikwense Muri, “The looting of Taraba is on an industrial scale. It is both horrible and almost unrelenting. Apart from the petty theft and direct stealing going on, the state is constantly being enmeshed in loans that are piling up by the day.
“The state loan profile now is close to 200 billion naira. The irony is there is nothing to show for all the borrowing…Contractors are not being paid and when eventually they are, they are made to return monies through the back door. The result is projects are stalled all over the state.”
However, reacting to the claims by the group, Special Adviser to the Taraba State Governor on Media and Publicity, Bala Dan Abu, said: “It is very easy to say one is a thief. That is mere pronouncement which is what the Bwacha boys did. These allegations are weighty: ethnic division, siphoning money and they had nothing to show as proof. If they had something to show they would have tendered the evidence before the journalists.
“So, you are not to take the allegations seriously becasue they are just playing politics. Until two week ago, Senator Bwacha was a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and his boys didn’t say all these things.”It’s a case of a husband and wife who are divorced he will not have anything good to say about the marriage. All the things he has sponsored them to say are not credible and has no truth.
“The administration of Governor Darius Ishaku has done a lot for the people of Taraba state. The administration promotes peace and has tarred, dualised and opened many roads in the state; developed an airport that is functional and today planes are landing in Jalingo, there are about six flights every week; staff welfare is in the scheme of things. I don’t know what else they expe r from the governor that he has not done.
“Bwacha is looking for credibility. He just joined the APC, the same party he called Muslim party, Boko Haram party! He is seeking to impress the people he had been calling names and now he is calling the PDP names. This is somebody who has no credibility; he is not trustworthy.
“He is a very dishonest politician and has defrauded the state severally through Constituency funds. He just buys a few tricyles and disputes them with fanfare. He is not a politician to be trusted.”
