Governor of Bayelsa State, Hon. Seriake Dickson and his predecessor, Timipre Sylva are again fanning the embers of their already-frosty relationship, this time over varying claims on the running of the state’s finances during their respective tenures.
It was Dickson who stirred the hornet’s nest on Monday when he claimed that his administration inherited a paltry N4, 451 from his predecessor in February 2012, but determinedly grew it to over N16bn. He also spoke of the challenge posed by the N50bn bond his predecessor secured, saying it would hit N104bn in 2017.
Presenting his administration’s financial scorecard for December in Abuja, Dickson disclosed that the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) would hit the N2bn monthly mark by the end of this year, up from about N300m it was when he assumed office.
Represented by Commissioner for Finance, Hon. Duate Iyabi, Dickson decried the N50bn bond and another N16bn bank loan allegedly obtained by Sylva, noting that the processes were abused.
But responding, Sylva described Dickson’s claim of inheriting a paltry state treasury of N4, 451 as “at best the outburst of an illegitimate governor troubled by an attack of conscience.”
Sylva lamented that one year after he was forced to quit the governorship seat of Bayelsa, Dickson is still obsessed with his ghost.
In a statement release by Doifie Ola, his media adviser, Sylva recalled that he never contested elections with Dickson but was illegally excluded from running for re-election by the forces that force-footed Dickson in office and foisted on Bayelsa the ignominy that Dickson and his gang have been frantically trying to whitewash with Sylva’s name. He added that they have continued to fail and fail quite resoundingly, and as such, Bayelsans and Nigerians have since become wise to the gang’s deception.
“Bayelsa State has never had it so bad. Bayelsa is mourning the Dickson disaster,” a part of the statement read.
“Every day, all you hear is that some phoney amounts have been saved, but nothing is happening in terms of delivery of projects and good life to the people. Rather than concentrate on what leadership ought to be, Dickson and his gang are busying chasing Sylva’s shadows, like the Biblical evil man who runs when no one is pursuing him. This clearly shows how confused he is.
“As for the questions of Bayelsa State debt profile and bond, contrary to insinuations in the Dickson outburst, Sylva ran the most prudent and transparent government Bayelsa has seen since the Fourth Republic. In spite of the enormous challenges Sylva faced when he took over from Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, the state’s debt profile was not anywhere near what Dickson and his gang want the world to believe throughout Sylva’s stay in office.”
The statement explained that going by the records, Sylva’s administration would have concluded payment of all its outstanding debts, save the bond, by February 2012.
“The N50 billion Bond that the Bayelsa State Government under Sylva took was on an even key as at the time Sylva left office. It was a project-specific loan; all money was paid directly to the contractors. No money came to the Sylva government. And the projects for which the loans were taken were almost completed at the time he left office.
“The Sylva government had no chance of mismanaging the bond. The question of rising interest rates on the bond does not arise so long it is being serviced according to terms. Besides, the state government’s commitment under the bond was to end by 2013. We do not know the kind of arrangements Dickson and his gang made that extended the commitment to 2017, as they claimed on Monday.”
Sylva added that when he left office in January 2012, the state’s monthly allocation from the Federation Account had not come.
“Sylva did not handover to Dickson. We are aware that Dickson has taken several loans and signed questionable Irrevocable Standing Payment Orders, while at the same time claiming to be saving money for Bayelsa State,” the statement further alleged.
“However, given the cowboy manner Dickson came into office, we are not surprised that he has problems with memory. All we can advise him and his gang is that they should stop these face-saving pranks with Sylva’s name, for it will never confer legitimacy on them.”
