ODAHIEKWU OGUNDE
Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State has vowed not to divert state funds to his personal enrichment.
The governor stressed that he had no reason to own landed property in foreign lands while serving in public office.
Diri stated this during a three-day solemn assembly to usher in the annual State Thanksgiving at the DSP Alamieyeseigha Banquet Hall in Yenagoa.
A statement on Tuesday by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Daniel Alabrah, quoted him as saying that despite receiving several of such offers, he had often resisted them because of his strong conviction that state funds were for development and not for personal acquisitions.
Diri maintained he would not renege on his oath to use state resources for physical infrastructure and human empowerment of Bayelsa and its people.
He said: “I have no reason to own property in London or in the U.S. They have come severally and I have always said No.
”I can buy a property there if I am doing private business and with my private funds. It is not wrong to own property outside the country but I will never do it with the public money of Bayelsa.
“We are using our state funds to build roads and schools, to pay salaries, gratuities and pensions to our people. If we do otherwise, then you have every reason to criticise us.”
He urged the people to shun hatred, embrace love and join hands with his government despite their political affiliations so the state could make good progress.
Diri stressed that as the only homogeneous Ijaw state in the country, it is imperative to unite as a people and forge a common front.
He assured that the state was in safe hands with him and his deputy steering the ship.
In a sermon, founder of the Royal House of Grace International Church, Apostle David Zilly-Aggrey, recounted numerous reasons the state should render thanksgiving to God even in the midst of the challenges in the country.
Apostle Zilly-Aggrey noted that thanksgiving to God unlocks supernatural breakthroughs.
The Bayelsa Thanksgiving Day holds every November 2 since it became a law in 2012 during the administration of Senator Seriake Dickson. This is the 10th edition.