My challenges governing Taraba state- Umar‏

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The acting Governor of Taraba State, Alhaji Garba
Umar, Wednesday declosed that his greatest
challenge since assuming office was his battle to
ensure that the Danbaba Suntai administration
was not hijacked by a cabal.
Umar, who disclosed this while fielding questions
from journalists, after a statewide broadcast to
the people of the state to mark the beginning of
the New Year, said the cabal would have
succeeded in their plans and run the
government to a halt if he had folded his arms
and allow them to have their way.
The acting governor, who noted that the political
crisis that engulfed the state recently was
orchestrated by the cabal using the name of
Suntai and pretending to be fighting his cause,
stressed that it was unfortunate that those
behind the crisis were only concerned about
themselves and not the interest of the state at
heart.
According to him, “My greatest challenge since
becoming the acting governor of the state was
our fight to stop the cabal that wanted to hijack
the state government but we made sure that
this government belongs to Suntai. I would not
fold my arms and watches the cabal run the
government to a halt.”
He, however, revealed that he was able to exit
the state from the debts owed commercial banks
totalling N3.9 billion and an additional N400
million accruable interest within his first three
months in office and had further ensured the
stabilisation of the state’s finances, stressing that
as at today, the state government has no
business borrowing money from banks.
“Within the first three months of becoming the
state’s acting governor, we were able to stabilise
the finances of the state by ensuring the
payment of the debts the state was owing banks
which ran into N3.9 billion and another N400
million that would have accrued on it as interest.
We also made sure that contractors that are
being owed by the government were being paid
while ensuring that all the projects initiated by
my boss were being executed diligently.
“We have effectively managed the finances of
the state to the extent that we were able to pay
September salaries of our workers without federal
statutory allocation. We hope to sustain this
through fiscal discipline and the systematic
improvement of our revenue generation profile.
“We have also been consistent in the payment of
staff emolument and allowances, contracts and
the sundry obligations to our development
partners. It is to the credit of this administration
that the local government workers in our state
are now enjoying the new minimum wage after a
successful negotiation process.”
Expressing gratitude to God for sparing the life of
Suntai following his ill-fated plane crash and his
eventual return to the country after receiving
treatment in Germany and the United States,
Umar said the governor had substantially
recovered from the injuries he sustained in the
crash.
He, however, noted: “As his loyal lieutenants, we
have continued to hold brief for him by staying
focused on his master-plan for the development
of our dear state. My resolve to do so is borne out
of the need to ensure continuity and completion
of the set goals and objectives within the life
span of the administration which began about
seven years ago,” he declared.