The Bayelsa State Government yesterday stated that though the outgoing year had been challenging financially, the state had witnessed appreciable progress.
The state Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Maxwell Ebibai, stated this during the state transparency briefing for the months of September and October 2021 in Yenagoa, the state capital.
According to him, “The government has been very focused on spending. By February, a number of projects will be inaugurated for all to see. The state government has really been working despite the challenging financial situation of the economy.
“2021 is challenging; if you recall, we said in one of our transparency briefings that any money due to Bayelsa State, the government of Governor Douye Diri would vigorously pursue to ensure that we receive whatever that is due to us that has been withheld by any party.
“It is clear now that in 2022, some of those things will happen and it will cushion the effect of the projects that the government wants to undertake.
“It is nice to have a governor that is able to reach out. It is nice to have a governor that keeps focus on what we consider as a right of his people-the people of the state. So, as we get into 2022, as those things begin to happen, let us also be gracious enough to acknowledge the steadfastness of the Diri’s government.”
Also speaking, the state Information, Orientation and Strategy Commissioner, Mr. Ayibana Duba, said the government has done a lot “and we would continue to do more in the years ahead.
“You will recall that we came into government at a very trying time; we had all kinds of issues, and by January and February 2021, we went full steam in terms of award of contracts. A lot of projects are going on, and this is not an occasion to start enumerating them.
“The government in the education sector, agriculture, works and infrastructure and in other areas is doing what we can do. You can see that within the city of Yenagoa, there are more schools being built-six new model schools and eight technical colleges.
“One thing we are proud of is that our tertiary institutions are doing very well, you can recall that just few days ago, the National Universities Commission (NUC) came out clearly to state that out of the 25 universities in the country that have full accreditation for all the courses they are running, our own Niger Delta University (NDU) is taking a prominent position.
“For the road projects, there are big ticket projects that we are handling-those are projects that cannot be inaugurated within 12 months.
“We are working on the road to Oporoma; it is just some few kilometres to Angiama, and it will get there soon. The Ekeremor road is ongoing. The Igbedi road is almost ready. The section one of Igbogene-AIT outer ring road is asphalted to the Okarki road. You can drive through from Igbogene to Okarki.”
