The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Bayelsa State, has described the evasive response of the Bayelsa State Government through the Commissioner for Information, Orientation and Strategy, Mrs. Ebiuwou Koku-Obiyai, to the party’s recent statement on hunger and poverty as a disappointing height of insensitivity and evidence of the fact that the administration is completely disconnected from the realities confronting the indigent people and residents of Bayelsa State.
According to the party, rather than address the critical issues of hunger, poverty, unemployment, and the declining purchasing power of ordinary Bayelsans raised by it, the government chose to display insensitivity by reeling out unverified infrastructure projects while blaming the hunger and poverty crisis in Bayelsa State on what it termed bad policies of the APC-led National Government under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR.
PDP’s publicity secretary, Hon Ikaebimo Mark, stated that while roads, bridges, and public buildings are important, infrastructure without food on the table and money in the pocket cannot defeat hunger or lift people out of poverty.
The statement reads in part ‘’The PDP maintains that Bayelsans are poorer and hungrier today than they were before the Diri administration came into office, despite unprecedented revenues accruing to the state through statutory allocations and the 13 percent derivation fund. The Party finds it curious that a government that has been in office for over six years still appears unable to point to any clearly defined and impactful wealth-creation, employment-generation, or poverty-alleviation programme that has substantially improved the lives of the people. The government’s inability to identify such programmes in its response is, in itself, a tacit admission that the administration has fallen short of Bayelsans’ expectations in this critical area.
‘’The Party also considers it the height of irresponsibility for the state government to continue shifting the blame for hunger and poverty to the APC-led Federal Government while failing to account for the enormous resources accruing to Bayelsa State. Such a posture does a disservice to the renewed hope efforts of the Federal Government under President Tinubu to reposition the nation’s economy. Every tier of government must accept responsibility for the welfare of the people within its constitutional mandate. Bayelsans deserve solutions, not excuses.
According to the PDP, there is no evidence that industries have been established from the numerous Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) and investment announcements, thereby forcing many young people to leave the state in search of opportunities elsewhere.
The PDP reiterates its call on the Diri administration to urgently declare a “comprehensive State Economic Recovery, Wealth Creation, Employment Generation, and Food Security Initiative”, backed by measurable targets, timelines, and transparent implementation.
It stated that the time has come to invest directly in the people through industrial development, entrepreneurship support, agricultural value chains, skills acquisition, access to finance, sustainable job creation, and bursary payments to students at the tertiary education level.
‘’As a responsible opposition party, the PDP remains ready and willing to work with the government by offering practical and urgent policy solutions capable of addressing the worsening hardship confronting Bayelsans. The present situation demands collaboration, innovation, and decisive action in the overriding interest of the suffering masses.’’
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