The opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bayelsa State has chided the Governor Douye Diri-led government for allegedly failing woefully in governance despite receiving huge revenue allocations from the Federation Account.
The party claimed that the state government, under Diri, had performed poorly in all aspects of governance and residents were groaning under acute lack of potable water supply, electricity and other basic amenities.
Dennis Otiotio, the state APC chairman, stated these while speaking as a guest on the Correspondents’ Forum of the Federated Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Bayelsa State Council, in Yenagoa.
He explained that the alleged inability of the government to come up with sound policies and programmes had led to low volume of economic activities and several business owners had closed shop and moved out of the state.
Otiotio said,”When you live in Yenagoa; you grow up in Yenagoa and you have not gone to other places, you will think that Yenagoa is the ultimate. That is why anything they (Diri administration) do in Yenagoa, people will just be shouting, ‘they are trying’.
“Like the overhead bridge that they did, people are shouting that it is a flyover. But when you go to places like Kano or Calabar, even Port Harcourt, and you see what is going on there, then you will ask: what is happening here (in Bayelsa)?
“People think that Douye Diri is trying. What is he trying? With the billions of naira that come to the state? He is a failure. Douye Diri has failed in all ramifications, and in all aspects of governance.”
The APC chieftain continued, “Let us look at it. What people need is water, light and housing. He has not built one single estate. You are aware that the House of Assembly Quarters has been sold to the current House of Assembly members. There is no replacement. The Commissioners’ Quarters has also been sold to the current commissioners. There is no replacement. The Judges Quarters that (former governor Seriake) Dickson commissioned, he (Diri) wants to remodel it and commission it. It is all deception. He is just deceiving the people.
“Let’s go to water. Why can’t we treat the stream water and use it, like what they do in US? Because the governmen is not foresighted. If they travel out, they will just stay in the hotel, enjoy themselves and come back.
“Are you not surprised that every house in Bayelsa must dig a borehole? Even the state Ministry of Water Resources relies on Aboki to supply them water. And then, you come and tell us there is governance. When you want to measure performance, we should be able to look at the critical sectors.
“Talking about light, various states have been given licence to generate power. It is transmission that is in the hands of Federal Government. The power that Bayelsa State Government House is now using, is generated by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board. They have abandoned their responsibility.
“What have they done concerning road infrastructure? The By-Pass at Igbogene was already standardised before they took over, and they have been doing it up till. Seriake did it for eight years. Douye Diri is still doing it, and they are priding themselves.
“How much is it? Let them come out and tell us how much has been paid before they came in and how much they have paid for that road. Let us know how much they are spending on these projects.”
The APC also stated that Diri was not prepared for the governorship of Bayelsa and that he was overwhelmed by the weight of the office.
