‘We do not want to believe that the Minister is a kill-joy!’ Bayelsa Govt replies Sylva for discrediting projects

[From CHRIS EZE, Yenagoa]

Bayelsa Government has taken a swipe at the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva over the scathing remarks credited to the latter against the Governor Douye Diri-led administration while featuring as guest on a Yenagoa-based radio station, weekend.

 A statement signed by Hon. Ayibaina Duba, Commissioner for Information, Orientation and Strategy said that Sylva’s comments not only lacked finesse but were also indecorous of an exalted citizen of the state occupying a high office.

The statement said Sylva’s outbursts coming at a time the state and its citizens are in a celebratory mood as they mark the second anniversary of Governor Douye Diri’s Prosperity Administration was clearly to dampen morale and score cheap political points.

“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 Prosperity Government”, the commissioner stated.

The statement though acknowledged some complimentary remarks made by Sylva over some of the policies of the Governor Diri administration; it however insisted that the former governor of the state hit the Prosperity Government below the belt.  

“For instance, the former governor 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 his attempt to pour ice on the historic significance of the road, Chief Sylva 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 Senator Diri administration wiped off their tears. We do not want to believe that the Minister is a kill-joy!

“Chief Sylva was also economical with the truth and engaging in the usual deceitful politics of the All Progressives Congress (APC) by saying that Bayelsa was dark at night when he arrived the state. And we ask: which Bayelsa did he visit? Is it the Bayelsa that the Prosperity Administration has installed functional solar-powered lights on all the major roads in the state capital and 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 privatization 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 an 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 statement pointed out that there are records of projects purportedly executed and monies released during Sylva’s time as governor for five good years with nothing to show on ground, warning that “People living in glass houses should be careful how they throw stones”.   

The commissioner further noted, “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 development of the state at all times.

“The government restates its position that the PDP-led Prosperity Administration of Governor Douye Diri would not play the APC brand of politics with development of our state. If in just two years in office, the administration has received and is receiving plaudits for its people-oriented projects and policies, then Bayelsans have reasons to be hopeful of better days ahead under a PDP administration”.