The Bayelsa State Governorship Candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Udengs Eradiri, has queried claims by the state Governor, Douye Diri, that he used N30bn to complete ongoing 10.2km phase two of the Glory Drive dual carriageway.
Eradiri wondered how the road project, which was almost completed by former Governor Henry Seriake Dickson, could still gulp such outrageous amount of money.
He recalled that while former Governor Timipre Sylva completed the clearing component of the project, his successor Dickson carried out the sand-filling aspect while Diri was only expected to asphalt it.
The candidate, who spoke at his residence in Yenagoa on Wednesday after receiving officials of the US Consulate-General led by the consulate’s Political/Economic Section’ Chief, Mr. Mike Elvin, said the implication was that Diri spent N3bn to construct each kilometre of the road.
Describing Diri’s administration as lacking in transperancy and accountability, Eradiri asked the governor to disclose the total cost of other projects he started in with an ill-fated motive to brighten his chances at the poll.
Eradiri said: “Is this N30billion part of the money that was spent from inception or this is the one they just used to tile that road? It means that one kilometer is N3billion. There is a huge fraud going on here. Somebody needs to explain to Bayelsans how in ten kilometers, you spent 30billion, on a road you did not sand-fill.
“Sand-filling of that road was done by Governor Dickson. I have strong reservations about that amount spent on that road. The governor should also tell us all the roads, how much did you spent? Because it’s as if somebody is not doing his arithmetic properly or they are deliberately using road construction to syphon funds in this state.
“Tell us, the Nembe-Brass road, how much have you earmarked? How much have you mobilized? When is it going to be concluded; whether it is in your tenure or not? You tell us because these are projections that are made in every project. For the governor to tell us that he spent N30billion on a ten kilometer road, something is fundamentally wrong.
“So I have reservations, same way he must tell us how much he has spent on the Ekeremor road, so that we know whether we are harboring political criminals or we have governors, we want to know.
“If you tell us that you spent N30billion in that place, then we need to know how much you spent in Ekeremor for a road that was practically done by the former administration. This clarity needs to be done for us to know who we are dealing with. If we have somebody who is squandering our resources, they should come and tell us”.
Eradiri noted that some of the critical roads that should be done to unlock the economic potential of the state had been poorly conceived with single lanes
He said: “There has to be accountability in Bayelsa because the monies that have come to the state are not commensurate to the said projects. The road to Southern Ijaw is one lane; in this modern day, who is building one lane road? The road to the Brass they are talking about with the potential of Brass and the blue economy. It is one very narrow lane.
“The Ekeremor road that is supposed to hit Agge, the best shoreline for a port is one narrow lane. For me I call on the governor to come out clean on the cost of all the projects that he is involved in.”