ODAHIEKWU OGUNDE, Yenagoa
Some leaders of the Bayelsa State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have called on the citizens of the state to be patient and rally round Governor Douye Diri towards achieving his administration’s goal of remodelling the state.
The party leaders, under the auspices of Friends of Senator Douye Diri (FSDD), said Diri, within two years in office, had made giant strides in every facet of life such as infrastructure, agriculture, governance, sports, governance and social life.
Addressing a news conference in Yenagoa, the state capital, on Saturday, the Chairman, FSDD, Chief Bodi Arerebo, said their appeal for patience and understanding with Diri’s government was borne out of the fact that the governor inherited humongous accumulated debts from previous administrations.
Arerebo, flanked by 1st Vice President, FSDD, Elder Zee Debekeme, and the Assistant Secretary, Esebrafa John Oweife, said most of the projects Diri completed and is still working on were no-go areas for administrations before him.
He mentioned the commencement of multi-billion Naira Nembe-Brass Road, construction of Gloryland Drive, remodelling of the popular Tombia roundabout, payment of workers salaries and pensioners as and when due and numerous other projects.
Arerebo said: “Governor Douye Diri is God-sent to Bayelsa State. His performance since he assumed power has spoken volumes of his good intentions for the state. Here is a governor who came to office and inherited a multitude of accumulated problems including debts.
“No doubt that some of the problems will take some time to solve, he is not resting on his laurels to ensure that the state becomes a reference point in the comity of states in Nigeria. He has been battling with the repayment of carried over debts.
“If you have the opportunity to ask some of the people who are in government, they will open up a lot of things to you and then you will know Diri is really trying his best to unite the state, pay off debts owed contractors and others by previous administrations.
“The governor has also ensured that the projects he inherited from previous administrations are completed. It is noteworthy that mobilisation fees were not even paid by previous governments but in order to accelerate the development and progress of the state, he mobilised previous contractors to various abandoned project sites and today, most of them have been completed.”
Arerebo slammed those criticising Diri, saying they were merely playing politics and talking out of ignorance.
He added: “The truth is let those people who are criticising Douye Diri know that the governor came in and met a lot of problems including humongous debts.
“There is no government that has done what Diri is doing in terms of social character, embracing everyone, previous leaders alike. But when previous leaders see you criticize them, they will be hunting you to kill but Diri is not a person like that.”
Arerebo also lauded the Diri administration for reducing crime and criminality to the barest minimum, saying that because of the security architecture in place, Bayelsa is ranked as one of the safest states in the country.