By Augustine Osayande
Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri has challenged the governor to explain what and how he expended the N800 billion (domestic)and $216 million (external) loans his administration has incurred since coming into office in 2012 and the over N1.2 trillion that accrued to the state from the federation account for the same period, as well the billions of naira for the local government areas of the state from the federal allocations and billions of naira from the internally generated revenue from the State.
The minister in a statement signed by his Media Aide George Oji expressed shock and disappointment that Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State is denying that the state is indebted to the tune of N800 billion.
The governor in a recent response through his Special Adviser on Public Affairs, while denying the authenticity of the figures by the minister admitted that the state is only indebted to the tune of N123 billion. “The official figure today is not more than N123 billion. We wonder where he gets his N800 billion any time he wants to criticise the government,” the governor said in his response.
The minister added that the governor tactically maintained deliberate silence on foreign debts and the other trillions of naira accruals to the state. “For the avoidance of doubt, the honourable minister insists that the state is indebted to the tune of N800 billion (domestic) and $216 million (external)” Lokpobiri said.
He accused Dickson of borrowed a whopping N222 billion (domestic) and $28 million (external) in 2012 alone and threatened to publicly disclose all the amounts the governor has been borrowing every year from 2012 till date. He describes as tissue of lies, the figure of N123 billion being bandied by the governor as the amount the state government is presently owing and urged His Excellency to refrain from peddling falsehood about the financial status of Bayelsa State.
According to the Minister, the actual loan profile of Bayelsa State can readily be gleaned from the Debt Management Office (DMO), the official federal government outfit, which domiciles all the loans for all the levels of government in the country, which is open for the public to access on the website of DMO.
The Honourable Minister who questioned the impact of the huge debts and accruals on the lives and wellbeing of the people of the state draws a nexus between massive corruption and wastes by the governor and the astronomical rise of insecurity in the state. He insists as usual that, the reason why Bayelsa State ranks very high as one of the most insecure states in the country is because of the pervading corruption and wastes that has become the hallmark of the Dickson administration.
The minister maintains that had the governor deployed the loans and the other financial accruals to the state to positive, wealth-creation and developmental projects, the social problems bedevilling the state today would have been minimally addressed and the issue of insecurity would also have been nearly non-existent.
The Honourable Minister advises the governor to settle in and face the onerous task of providing leadership and good governance, which is statutory obligation he owes the people of Bayelsa State.
