Yenagoa—Chief Press Secretary to the Bayelsa State Governor, Daniel Alabrah, has dismissed allegations by the APC Integrity Group that Governor Douye Diri is claiming to execute projects in the state that were neither started nor completed by him.
The APC Integrity Group had accused Diri of cajoling his Rivers State counterpart, Nyesom Wike, to inaugurate lecture halls in the Bayelsa Medical University executed by a federal government agency, TETFund.
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The group also named the Onopa bridge, Nembe unity bridge, Yenagoa-Oporoma road, judges quarters, among others as some projects Diri is claiming to have executed.
Speaking to our reporter on Tuesday, Alabrah stated that there is no iota of truth in the claims credited to the group.
According to him, “one kobo of TETFund money is not in that project. The TETFund money has not arrived.
“The money that was used to build that structure, the laboratory and the lecture halls is money meant for the accreditation of that institution. And you cannot get accreditation without structures, so they had to build those structures.”
Alabrah who challenged the group to contact TETFund for clarification reiterated that the project was solely constructed by the Diri-led administration.
“The integrity they have is only in their name. In practice, they should be APC lying group. They should go to TETFund let TETFund issue a statement and say that what they have said is true. It is a lie from the pit of hell. There is no iota of truth in their statement.
“This project is solely Governor Douye Diri’s project. The building was constructed by this administration. You know because they claim it is a carryover from the previous administration. This building was constructed by this administration,” he said.
Countering claims made by the group regarding the judges’ quarters, Diri’s spokesman revealed that, “the quarters was not commissioned by Dickson, rather it was flagged off. They just keep regurgitating the same lie.
“We are not in a hurry to inaugurate projects. We will only inaugurate projects that are completed. We still have two years, so we are not in a hurry.
“We are not trying to prove anything. Let those who are saying there is nothing to show tell us what is being spent on the ongoing projects. Is it not money that is spent to keep these projects ongoing?
Alabrah, who revealed the role played by the Diri-led administration in the completion of the Nembe unity bridge, added that the government is not taking sole credit for the construction of the bridge as alleged.
His words, “The Nembe unity bridge project was stagnant because of the issue between Ogolomabiri and Bassambiri. The issue made it difficult for the Dickson administration to do anything. So, first of all, when Diri came in, we had to establish peace; there had to be reconciliation.
“When the people agreed that they are going to reconcile, the government made effort to reconcile both communities. Then what was the next thing to do? It is to build the symbol of their unity which is the Nembe bridge.
“So why are the APC people saying Sylva did it? Did we say Sylva didn’t do part of the bridge?”
“The credit still goes to Sylva. We are not taking credit that we built that bridge from beginning to end. You cannot say the government did not finish it so they cannot take credit for it.”
Dismissing claims by the APC Integrity Group that former Governor Seriake Dickson commissioned the Yenagoa-Oporoma road, Alabrah stated that, “Dickson did the road up to Ayama and the project was still ongoing. Dickson did not commission the road.”
