Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress in Bayelsa State, Perekeme Kpodoh, has challenged Governor Douye Diri, to publish the costs of the projects his administration has carried out in the state and their contractors.
The chieftain in a statement on Thursday, claimed that projects executed by state government were shrouded in secrecy, stating that the governor had brought the state under ridicule with his penchant for inaugurating uncompleted projects.
He said the people of the state deserved to know how their money was being spent and how much was approved and allocated to each project in the state.
Kpodoh said, “Governor Diri should tell us how much he is using to execute each project and the timelines for the projects. How much has he sunk so far in the ongoing Yenagoa-Oporoma road?
“Most of these projects were started by the previous administration and we know there have been variations and contract reviews, but Governor Diri has refused to transparently render an account of how much of Bayelsa money he is deploying into these projects.”
The former security adviser, lamented that the transparency briefing Diri’s predecessor initiated to tell Bayelsans the inflows and outflows of their revenue had become irregular under him.
“Former Governor ,Seriake Dickson, initiated the transparency briefing to give Bayelsans the breakdown of monthly incomes and expenses. The previous administration made it a ritual and ensured such detailed accounts were given to members of the public.
“But under Diri, the transparency briefing is dying a natural death. It has become so irregular that the people of the state are beginning to forget about it. Why are the financial dealings of Diri shrouded in secrecy?
“How much has come into the state since he became a governor? We want to state categorically that the humongous amount he has received is not commensurate with what is on ground,” he stated.
Kpodoh insisted that the Diri administration was making mockery of the oil-rich state by inaugurating substandard and uncompleted projects.
He further said, “It is only in Diri’s Bayelsa, that one lane of a dual carriage road project was inaugurated. It is only in Diri’s Bayelsa, that the government’s house, through their data boys, are celebrating the installation of a beam to a bridge on a road undergoing construction.
“It is only in Diri’s Bayelsa that a whole Vice-President, Yemi Osinbajo, was invited to commission the construction of a bridge on a road that is still undergoing construction. It is only in Diri’s Bayelsa that the state government is celebrating a project that local governments in other states are doing with unimaginable fanfare.
“When you juxtapose what is happening in states like Rivers and Akwa Ibom, you will realise that Bayelsa has become a joke under Diri. What exactly is Diri doing with our money? Have these substandard projects become conduits to siphon money and beef up their financial war chest to prosecute their bid for a second term?”
Kpodoh urged Diri to publish an account of how much he had received since he assumed office and how much he had committed to projects.
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