Losses at Taraba escalate due to the airline’s failure after 16 years

“We acknowledge that numerous Taraba movable and immovable assets are either under private ownership or abandoned nationwide. For this reason, I formed a committee to conduct an impartial evaluation of the assets and provide a report to the government,” Governor Agbu Kefas stated precisely during a press conference.

Kefas continued, emphasizing, “We are determined to improve the state’s economy, and we will not hesitate to look into the books if necessary.”

Governor Kefas gave the committee instructions to locate the government of Taraba State’s moveable and immovable assets anywhere in Nigeria or the world. The committee’s composition was announced in a circular issued by Barr. Gibeon Timothy Kataps, the Secretary to the Government of Taraba State.

“Make an overall assessment of the economic/monetary value of each asset” was another mission given to the committee.

Assess each asset’s acceptable use by the State Government and, in general, provide the State Government with recommendations that are appropriate.”

An investigation was launched in response to the governor’s outcry to find out the location of the state’s moveable and immovable assets.

According to our research, various helicopters and airplanes that the state government purchased for the defunct Taraba Air as well as some state-owned logistic trucks are among its most valuable mobile assets.

Former Governor Jolly Nyame intended to open Taraba to the world and increase the state’s revenue profile, as the state was heavily dependent on the monthly Federal Allocation for survival. He did this by starting the now-defunct Danbaba Suntai Airport project in Jalingo and purchasing an aircraft in the name of the Taraba State Government in 2006/2007.

In 2012, five years after Jolly Nyame’s death, the late pharmacist Danbaba Danfulani Suntai, who took over as governor, legally founded Taraba Air as a state-funded airline and added one Embraer 145 and one Cessna 208B Caravan to the fleet.

Regretfully, Suntai’s personal Cessna 208B Caravan jet crashed in 2012 in Yola, Adamawa State, before Taraba Air had even begun full operations. He passed away in a US hospital in June 2017.

Further research indicates that the late Governor Danbaba purchased a helicopter and two aircraft in an attempt to establish Taraba Air in 2012.

The state’s immediate past chairman of ALGON, Hon. Kallamu Ahmandu, served as the state’s commissioner for rural development and informed our correspondent that he was part of the delegation of government representatives who traveled to the United States in 2012 to purchase the aircraft.

The two planes purchased by the Danababa administration were paid for with local government funds, according to a second government official at the time who begged to remain anonymous, even though he did not disclose the specifics of the transaction, citing a lack of official figures and procedures involved in the acquisition of the aircraft.

The source claims that Senator Bashir Marafa, the then-permanent secretary of the Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, and the late Governor Suntai, worked with Senator Bala Ibn Na-Allah, a consultant to the state government, to handle the procurement process, concealing the procurement’s numbers.

While the state provided funding for the purchase of the helicopter, local government monies were used to purchase the Embraer 145 and Cessna 208B Caravan planes.

“In October 2012, the late Suntai piloted a Cessna 208B Caravan jet that ultimately crashed. The Embraer 145 is currently stored at Kaduna International Airport, while the plane that former Governor Jolly Nyame acquired is parked at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.

“There have been unsubstantiated rumors that Nyame purchased a second aircraft, but I am unable to ascertain the location of that particular aircraft.”

This year, an Embraer plane sold for approximately N2.299 billion. According to estimates, the same aircraft sold for N306,560,000 in 2007. However, as of 2012, the Cessna 208B cost $1.42 million, or

N224,000,000.

The identical jet currently costs N3.364 billion.

Even though it will be challenging to estimate the precise amount the state has lost over the years by not using the planes for commercial use, aviation expert Capt. Roland Iyayi told our correspondent over the phone that it is clear the state has lost billions of naira in revenue over the previous 16 years.

Look, the Embraer 145 that the state allegedly purchased is the same model that United Airlines, Bristol Airline, Rano Air, and Air Peace use for commercial flights. These airlines are able to provide you with their annual net profit figures, deducting maintenance costs and employee salaries.

“If you do the arithmetic annually, you would have an approximate idea of how much revenue an Embraer 145-50 seater plane will earn. An average airline ticket is N50,000, and some go for as much as N100,000.

“It is not economically sensible to park the planes for that long, even though the yield from 2007 to 2012 and from 2013 to 2023 may differ significantly.” Recall that the state either already pays for or will eventually have to pay for the hangars where the planes are kept.

Examine Ibom Air. This is an exemplary case of how states might profit from the aviation industry. As Capt. Iyayi noted, “Ibom Air is doing very well in the sector and other states can learn from the Ibom Air example. It should not be a loan entity, but tied to the state’s vision to grow the economy.”

Public affairs analyst Mr. McDonald Dogoson, a Jalingo native, bemoaned the years-long mismanagement of the state government’s aircraft fleet, saying it had let them down.

“Governor Agbu Kefas, I want to implore you to do everything in your power to make Taraba Air a reality. The government has lost a lot of money over the years. He argued, “This will bring the state a lot of revenue.”

Taraba people anticipate that the current governor will act decisively to stop this enormous financial waste and put the state back on the path of economic success, even as the entire country awaits the committee’s report on the evaluation of the mobile and immovable assets.

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It’s possible that Governor Kefas recognized the enormous expectations of the state’s citizens when he declared, “We will stop at nothing to ensure that we succeed.” With approval from the Nigerian Air Force and the NCAA, maintenance work on the Danbaba Suntai Airport has been finished. In response to questioning from media, he recently gave his assurance, “We are going to open up the sector for the good of the state.”

Voice calls and SMS sent to the governor’s phone went unanswered despite repeated attempts to communicate with the Special Adviser Media.