– no commensurate projects
– deliberate, absolute neglect of existing institutions, infrastructure
By Freedom Ayabowei
Secretary APC Integrity Group.
The APC integrity group has called on the Senator Douye Diri led PDP government to account for the huge federal allocation the state has received since the begining of the year.
Bayelsa State since it’s creation has absolutely relied on funds from the central pool. The state IGR only rose from N60m to N1Bn during the previous administration and has since remained static.
Available data reveals that there is a correlation between high Federal Revenue Allocation, IGR and development but this is not the case in Bayelsa today.
For instance, the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) July 2022 disbursement to Bayelsa State is about N25Bn and the figures for other months since the month of January has been relatively high in comparison to previous years due to the Russia/Ukraine war and it’s attendant increase in the cost of oil globally.
The records of FAAC disbursement to Bayelsa State from January 2022 till date as documented by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the Bayelsa state transparency brief for March and April is as follows;
-https://nigerianstat.gov.ng/elibrary
-https://independent.ng/bayelsa-received-n34-037bn-allocation-in-march-april-govt/
January – N10.308Bn
February – N13.054Bn
March – N15.21Bn
April – N22.206Bn
May – not revealed
June – not revealed
July – N25Bn
Mr Fred lamented that despite the huge FAAC disbursements to the state in the first half of the year, Bayelsa seem to have accepted the regressive approach of the Prosperity government towards the disclosure of the state’s income and expenditure as practiced since 2012.
Mr. Fred Ayabowei, commended Dr John Idumange for speaking to the hoarding of details of financial transactions by the Diri led Prosperity government earlier this year and strongly condemned the attempt by the government to mute his voice and that of other concerned Bayelsans who believe in transparency and accountability.
It is already over three years since the Diri led Prosperity government assumed office and despite it’s comfortable take off with the release of the N32Bn federal government projects refund and a steadily increasing federal allocation, the ratio of funds received by the government so far to projects executed is abysmal.
The health sector is at the penultimate stage of collapse. Even the Bayelsa health insurance scheme which transformed the healthcare system in the state, is under severe threat.
Same applied to the educational sector where schools like the Ijaw national academy, among the 12 first boarding schools in Bayelsa state, situated in Diri’s LGA where our children were given free access to quality education, is now a shameful sight. Other institutions like the medical university, the diagnostic centre etc are equally suffering similar abandonment. Bayelsans expected that as a brain child of the previous government, continuation would be priority but the abandonment of these facilities and institutions is highly condemnable as these were beneficial initiatives to all Bayelsans irrespective of party affiliation.
Bayelsans want to know, what the Diri led government has been expending Bayelsa state funds on, or are they hoarding state funds for politics?
Previous governments equally had political matters to deal with yet committed to the development of the state. What is the Diri led Prosperity government commited to, impoverishing Bayelsans in the name of politics?
The spokesperson of the group lamented the poor developmental strides of the Diri led Prosperity government despite the huge allocation received and the scary loans obtained by the government within his brief period in office. The group also vowed that henceforth on a monthly basis, since the government has chosen not to disclose to Bayelsans what accrues the state, they will publish it for all Bayelsans to see.
Mr. Fred Ayabowei also called on the EFFC to beam their searchlight on the Bayelsa state government as Bayelsans are worried about their future.
