Dickson has turned Bayelsa to his private ATM, Sylva alleges*Faults debt profile rating by govt

Akam James, Yenagoa

Former Governor of Bayelsa state, Chief Timipre Sylva has accused the current Governor of Bayelsa state, Seriake Dickson of economically and financially strangulating the state, accusing that the incumbent governor of turning the state to his private Automated Teller Machine (ATM).

Sylva, also described as “pure falsehood” the claim by Gov. Dickson over an alleged N120 billion loan incurred during his time in office as governor from 2007 to 2011.

According to Sylva, the current administration has further mortgaged the future of Bayelsa state with huge loans fraudulently tied to several white elephant projects, adding that the administration should on how to explain the N130 billion loan it has incurred which has made Bayelsa people to live below the poverty line.

The APC stalwart who made this known in Yenagoa through his media aide, Julius Bokoru, said Sylva left a healthy state for his successor, but regrets that the government that took over from him plunged the state into debts.

He described Dickson as one of the most fortunate governors to have governed the state because he governed the state in an era the state received the highest allocation from the federation account, adding that “ but yet, the state is indebted to the sum of N130 billion it has not been able to service.

“As long as we know, the Dickson led administration took a loan of N50 billion. A loan he claimed he has used to build an airport for the state. The ironic thing about that loan is that it is expected to be serviced with a N32 billion interest fee making the total sum of the loan N82 billion. Where does that happen?

“We still have the case of a 66 million Euros he took from the Bank of Poland in 2013 to build a maritime university in the state. I am not sure there is any maritime university in this state. In fact, the only maritime university we have in the South-South of the country is the one at Okerenkoko, Delta state.

“So, these are the obvious scams. Rather, than pay attention to their own short -comings, they have resorted to casting aspersions, focusing on Sylva, who was governor of this state almost eight years ago.  

“Just yesterday, the Debt Management Office made a publication indicating that Bayelsa state is the seventh most indebted state in Nigeria. It explained that the state is indebted to the sum of N130 billion. That goes to show how much Dickson has mortgaged Bayelsa with series of loans.”

According to Sylva, it has become necessary to explain the debt profile of Bayelsa state because the government is bent on witch-hunting him, rather than explain the state they met and the state they would be handing over to the next government that would come on board soon.

“This government led by its pretend governor is still feeling hunted by the ghost of Sylva. For crying out loud, Sylva was governor almost eight years ago. By this time, Bayelsans expect that they should be explaining the milestones of their achievements and not to keep talking about Sylva,” the ex-governor’s media aide added.