Senator Emmanuel Bwacha Political Organisation, a political pressure group, has alleged that Taraba has become one of the most indebted states in Nigeria, with a debt profile of about N200 billion.
Rikwense Muri, spokesperson for the group, said this at a news conference on Monday in Abuja.
Mr Muri said however, that the state had remained among the most backward in terms of development in the country.
He said that the group plans to partner with the media towards highlighting its programmes ahead of the 2023 general elections.
Mr Muri said, however, that some highly placed politicians in the state have been using divisive politics towards remaining in power at all cost.
“Also some highly placed government officials have been paying hoodlums and shady characters to distract attention from divisive politics and bad governance in the state,” he said.
He said that such politicians were trying hard to divide the people across religious lines by using faith-based organisations to issue inflammatory statements.
“Currently, a volatile situation is afoot in the state with both Christian and Muslim bodies at each other’s throat,” he said.
He said that the Christian and Muslim faithful had lived together peacefully in the state in the past because of the efforts of the past governors, urging the current Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, administration in the state to follow suit.
Mr Muri said managing the state’s diversity had been the basis for its unity over time and should be sustained.
“We want to use this opportunity to establish a more robust relationship with the media and partner with it in reshaping the Taraba discourse as we head into the electioneering months ahead,” he said.
Mr Bwacha, a former Senate Deputy Minority Leader, defected from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the All Progressives Congress, APC, on Feb. 8.
NAN
