The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bayelsa says the ‘astronomical’
rise in the cost of the Bayelsa Cargo Airport from N40 to N80 billion is
worrisome and a waste of public funds.
The APC said that the
reaction of Bayelsa Government to its allegation on the project was a
failed attempt to divert attention from obvious lack of fiscal
discipline and prudence by the state government.
The party
said that “serious issues of accountability, due process and democratic
governance” raised in its Nov. 15 statement regarding the airport
project was never addressed.
Mr. Doifie Buokoribo, the APC Publicity
Secretary in Bayelsa, said in a statement in Yenagoa on Monday that the
state government had carefully avoided the critical concerns raised by
the party.
The party said that by the diversionary response,
the Dickson government had only confirmed the allegation, stressing that
“Governor Dickson is guilty as charged.”
The APC had criticized the
Bayelsa Government for borrowing from the money market at the current
high-interest rate and described it as a ploy to siphon public funds.
It
alleged that the high interest of N62 billion to be paid on the N80
billion loan would stifle the state of funds through the monthly
repayment obligations in the next eight years.
It said that the project lacked vital intermodal network for easy accessibility.
The
APC said that the N80 billion project was inflated and described it as
“clearly the most expensive airport project in Nigeria.”
Buokoribo
said that Bayelsa Government’s response was silent on the economic
viability of funding such a capital-intensive project from the money
market at huge interest rates.
“The Bayelsa State Government’s
reaction to our statement of Nov. 15, 2018, on the Bayelsa Airport scam
did not address any of the issues we raised. This is unfortunate but
understandable.
“Unfortunate because the government is attempting to
divert the attention of the Bayelsa populace from the serious issues of
accountability, due process, and democratic governance.
“These
concerns underscore our party’s intervention. We said the airport
project is a fraud. We said at more than N80 billion, it is grossly
inflated.
“We said the airport project is a deliberate cover by
Gov. Seriake Dickson to launder state’s funds. We have no reason
whatsoever to change our well-thought-out position.
“Rather than
address the concerns we raised, Gov. Dickson, through his Information
Commissioner, chose to abuse our party and its leaders.
“The APC is a
party of serious-minded people. We are not in competition with anyone
as to who will emerge best in exchange of insults and abuse. We are
focused on a better life for all the people of Bayelsa State,” he said.
The
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that Bayelsa Commissioner for
Information, Mr. Daniel Iworiso-Markson, had during an inspection tour
of the airport in August, put the cost at N90 billion.
In his
reaction, Iworiso-Markson said the past administration in the state
failed to give the people the desperately needed international airport
between 2007 and 2011.
Iworiso-Markson said that the Gov.
Timipriye Syla-led administration (now in APC) failed to build an
airport in spite of the huge resources at the disposal of his
administration.
According to him, the past administration used what
should have been a laudable idea of an airport project to milk the state
and siphoned billions of naira into private pockets.
The
commissioner challenged the APC to tell Bayelsa people and Nigerians
what the former governor did with N300 billion agriculture loan the
state took from the World Bank.
According to him, the past
administration also frittered away the N3 billion Millennium Development
Goal (MDG) funds made available to the state and foisted a bond
obligation of N125 billion on the state.
