Bayelsa N800b Debt Profile: Dickson, Lokpobiri Bicker

Governor of Bayelsa state, Seriake Dickson and the Minister of State, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Heineken Lokpobiri, have disagreed over the debt profile of the state since the year 2012.

Lokpobiri had accused the state government of the huge debt profile, expressing shock and disappointment that the Governor was denying that the state is indebted to the tune of N800 billion.

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Governor Dickson, in a statement had said that the claim that the state government had borrowed N800 billion only portrayed the depth of ignorance of Lokpobiri about governance in the state.

The Minister have consistently challenged the governor to explain what and how he expended the N800 billion (domestic) and $216 million (external) loans his administration has incurred since coming into office in 2012.

Lokpobiri is also accusing the governor of the over N1.2 trillion that accrued to the state from the federation account for the same period.

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The minister in a state statement signed by his Media Aide, George Orji, also asked the Governor to account for the billions of naira for the local government areas of the state from the federal allocations and billions of naira from the internally generated revenue from the State.

But the governor in a response through his Special Adviser on Public Affairs, Mr. Daniel Alabrah while denying the authenticity of the figures by the minister admitted that the state is only indebted to the tune of N123 billion.

“The official figure today is not more than N123 billion. We wonder where he gets his N800 billion any time he wants to criticise the government,” the governor said in his response.

The governor described the minister’s claim as a manifestation of the peaking frustration of a diaspora politician who has alienated himself from the state and lack the capacity to actualize his political dream to govern the state.

The governor urged Bayelsans and indeed the Nigerian citizenry to discountenance the spurious claim contained in the ill-conceived publication by the minister which he said was in conflict with facts and reality.

The Minister in a statement to the state Governor’s reaction, maintained that the governor tactically maintained deliberate silence on foreign debts and the other trillions of naira accruals to the state.

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Lokpobiri, insisted that the state is indebted to the tune of N800 billion (domestic) and $216 million (external).

He accused Dickson of borrowing a whooping N222 billion (domestic) and $28 million (external) in 2012 alone and threatened to publicly disclose all the amounts the governor has been borrowing every year from 2012 till date.

He describes as tissue of lies, the figure of N123 billion being bandied by the governor as the amount the state government is presently owing and urged His Excellency to refrain from peddle falsehood about the financial status of Bayelsa State.

According to the Minister, the actual loan profile of Bayelsa State can readily be gleaned from the Debt Management Office (DMO), the official federal government outfit, which domiciles all the loans for all the levels of government in the country, which is open for the public to access on the website of DMO.

The Minister questioned the impact of the huge debts and accruals on the lives and wellbeing of the people of the state, draws a nexus between massive corruption and wastes by the governor and the astronomical rise of insecurity in the state.

He insists as usual that, the reason why Bayelsa State ranks very high as one of the most insecure states in the country is because of the pervading corruption and wastes that has become the hallmark of the Dickson administration.

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The minister maintains that had the governor deployed the loans and the other financial accruals to the state to positive, wealth-creation and developmental projects, the social problems bedevilling the state today would have been minimally addressed and the issue of insecurity would also have been nearly non-existent.