LP guber candidate tackles Diri over N30bn for completion of N10.2km road in Bayelsa

Udengs Eradiri, the LP candidate for governor in Bayelsa State, has questioned state governor Douye Diri’s assertions that he spent N30 billion to finish the 10.2km phase two portion of the Glory Drive dual carriageway.

Former governor Henry Seriake Dickson had nearly finished the road, but Eradiri couldn’t understand why it was still costing an exorbitant amount of money.

He recalled that the clearing work on the project had been done by former governor Timipre Sylva, that his successor Dickson had completed the sand-filling work, and that Diri had been tasked with completing the asphalting.

On Wednesday, the LP candidate alleged that Diri spent N3 billion to build each kilometer of the road, after visiting officials from the US Consulate-General in Yenagoa led by the Political/Economic Section Chief, Mr. Mike Elvin.

Eradiri criticized Diri’s administration for lacking transparency and accountability and demanded that the governor reveal the full cost of other projects he initiated in an effort to boost his electoral prospects.

Eradiri questioned whether the N30 billion was part of the initial investment or if it had been set aside specifically for the tiling of the road. This converts to a price of N3 billion for 1 kilometer.

There is a massive deception occurring. Bayelanese citizens deserve an explanation as to why $30 billion was spent on a road that was just ten kilometers long and was not sand-filled.

Governor Dickson sanded down that road.” I have serious doubts about the wisdom of spending so much on that highway. The governor should also provide details on how much money was allocated for roads. There appears to be either an error in the numbers or an intentional diversion of monies in this state’s road development budget.

How much money have you set aside for the Nembe-Brass highway? In what ways have you mobilized people? When do you expect it to be finished, whether during your watch or not?

You inform us because these are standard estimates in every endeavor. Something is seriously wrong if the governor really did tell us that he spent N30 billion on a road that is only ten kilometers long.

We want to know if we are sheltering political criminals or if we have governors, so I have some reservations and he should tell us how much he has spent on the Ekeremor road.

We need to know how much you spent on the road in Ekeremor, which was virtually finished by the previous administration, if you claim to have spent N30 billion there. In order to know who we’re dealing with, this clarification is necessary. Someone who is wasting company money should come forward and say so.

Eradiri pointed out that some of the most important highways that need to be built in order to unleash the state’s economic potential had been badly conceived and only had room for one lane.

He argued that accountability was necessary in Bayelsa because the funds received by the state had not been proportional to the initiatives proposed.

“The road to Southern Ijaw only has one lane; who, in this day and age, is still constructing roads with only one lane?” The path towards Brass, with its promising future in the blue economy. It’s basically just one tiny lane.

There is only one lane on the Ekeremor road that is meant to reach Agge, the finest coastline for a port. Personally, I want the governor to be forthright about how much money each project will cost.