A group under the aegis of All Progressives Congress (APC) Integrity Group has lambasted the Senator Douye Diri led prosperity government, alleging the it has been receiving over N25 billion monthly with nothing to show for it.
In a statement signed by its convener, Mr. Fred Ayabowei and made available to newsmen in Yenagoa, the group said regardless of the known setbacks generally encountered by the federation like the pandemic, insecurity and food supply shortage, “especially since the Senator Douye Diri led prosperity government’s supreme court imposed take-over, the federal allocation received so far by the Bayelsa state government has been consistently on the increase and in no way does it reflect the prevailing circumstances in the federation.
“The Douye Diri government has literally been smiling to the bank ever since yet laments consistently of a decline in federal allocations.
“As paradoxical as this may seem, it would have been highly commendable if there was commensurate development in the state.
“There is no positive impact on the well-being of Bayelsans. A state that has never been this lucky right from inception, ought to have developed beyond what it currently is but it is rather ossified.
“It is true that most Bayelsans are disappointed at this trend but for the fear of intimidation and victimization in certain quarters, many have retired to silence.
“Most of those who were courageous to speak out and demand for development were vilified by the governor’s aides, rendered politically irrelevant and their means of sustenance withdrawn on account of this.
“All the ongoing projects earlier announced by the Diri led government are all abandoned and those commissioned are not even relevant, neither are they societally impactful save one or two.
“What is the huge allocation meant for if not for the development of Bayelsa state? If we set our dear state in a development contest with other neighbouring states that earn even less, the visible but sad reality is that our state appears to be focused on nothing.
“While states are devising alternate means of tackling the food and Job insecurities by setting up production industries and providing the enabling environment for their sustainability, our government is rather engaged in unprofitable political activities while watching already existing alternatives decay.
“Till date, there is no portable water in Bayelsa State, electricity is nothing to write home about, businesses and residents have to provide their own power yet they are arbitrarily taxed and levied, insecurity in the rise and residents have resorted in frustration to self-help, paying inexperienced youths who need protection themselves.
“The Douye Diri led government is clearly and deliberately engineering an economic downturn in the state while enriching himself and his cronies otherwise how could a state with such monthly allocation with an ‘economic advisory team’ if there’s any at all, find it so herculean to provide qualitative leadership?
“The APC integrity group hereby call on the prosperity government as a matter of urgency, to first and foremost get off that high horse and protect the future of Bayelsa by investing the current financial surplus in activating all the existing and viable alternate economic projects in the state carried out by his predecessors and then give account base on the transparency law or we may be compelled to take appropriate legal action.”
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