ODAHIEKWU OGUNDE, Yenagoa
The Bayelsa State government has faulted the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, on attacks on Governor Douye Diri and his administration’s performance since assumption of office.
The government reacted through a statement on Sunday by the Commissioner for Information, Orientation and Strategy, Hon. Ayibaina Duba.
It expressed dismay over the “misguided comments” of Sylva while featuring as guest on a Yenagoa-based radio station on Saturday.
The government said Sylva’s comments not only lacked finesse but were also indecorous of an exalted indigene of the state occupying a high office in the country.
It said the comments coming at a time when the state and its citizens were in a celebratory mood as they mark the second anniversary of Diri’s administration were intended to clearly dampen morale and score cheap political points.
Duba said: “Interestingly, Bayelsans know better and cannot be swayed by baseless sentiments and the shenanigans of political conflict mongers.
“The state government is surprised that having previously been the number one citizen of the state, Sylva displayed crass ignorance about ongoing projects of the Diri government.
“While we acknowledge his praises for some of the policies of the Diri administration, we, however, listened to him painfully trivialise some of the newly inaugurated projects of this administration.
“For instance, Sylva described the newly inaugurated Igbedi community road as a mere 4.5km road project that does not deserve the invitation of another governor to inaugurate it and that it led to the Governor’s wife’s hometown.
“Pray, is Igbedi not a community in Bayelsa State that deserves the benefits of government projects like any other community? The Honourable Minister might have forgotten that the first phase of the Glory Drive Road he referenced and is taking credit for is not as long as the Igbedi road he condemned.
“In Sylva’s attempt to pour ice on the historic significance of the road, he chose to ignore the fact that this was the only community in Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area of the state that hitherto was not accessible by road for about 500 years before the Diri administration wiped off their tears. We do not want to believe that the Minister is a kill-joy!”
He said Sylva was also economical with the truth and engaging in the usual deceitful politics of the opposition party by saying that Bayelsa was dark at night when he arrived in the state.
Ayibaina said: “And we ask: which Bayelsa did Sylva visit? Is that the Diri administration has installed functional solar-powered lights on all the major roads in the state capital and is still lighting up more areas of the city or another state?
“If Chief Sylva was referring to darkness arising from power outage, we expect him to know better than to point accusing fingers at the state government for that. We do not think he deserved to be educated on this as someone we expect should know about the privatisation of power in the country.
“The state government would also not gloss over his falsehood about the ongoing Judges Quarters project at Opolo. Our records show that the referenced project was not completed by the immediate past administration and so could not have been inaugurated by the Senator Seriake Dickson government before leaving office.
“It is mischievous to deliberately misinform Bayelsans and the radio audience that the current administration has revisited and inaugurated project in order to re-inaugurate it. To set the records straight, the project was only flagged off towards the end of the past administration and was never inaugurated.
“We are not surprised about his criticism of the ongoing work on the second phase of the Isaac Boro Road project. It is consistent with his condemnation and that of his party’s loyalists of the Bayelsa airport project when it was under construction and till date. They have always bandied figures on the cost of the project. However, today they gleefully use the airport that they vehemently opposed its construction.”
The commissioner said there were records of projects purportedly executed and monies released during Sylva’s time as governor for five good years with nothing to show on the ground, warning that “people living in glass houses should be careful how they throw stones.”
He said when Sylva was asked about the massive defection of his All Progressives Congress members to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), his response was not only shocking but also ludicrous to say the least that no single person had left the APC.
Ayibaina said obviously, Sylva and his ilk were still seething and yet to recover from the lethal blow the February 13, 2020 Supreme Court judgement dealt them.
He added: “Perhaps, he thinks taking potshots at Governor Diri could shore up the already flailing fortunes of his APC in the state and at the national level.
“Regardless of comments by a misfiring Minister of the Federal Republic, the administration remains focused on bettering the lot of the Bayelsa people and refuses to be distracted by those who choose to play politics with the development of the state at all times.”