Perekeme Kpodoh, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), says Yenagoa, the state capital, does not portray Bayelsa as an oil-producing state.

He said the current Diri-led administration had done nothing significant to give Yenagoa the required facelift and reposition it to attract tourists and foreign investors.

“Abakiliki, the capital city of Ebonyi State, one of the country’s poorest non-oil producing states, has witnessed significant transformation under Governor Dave Umahi.

“But Yenagoa, the capital of one of the richest oil-producing states, is lagging behind under Governor Douye Diri, who styles himself a miracle governor. What an irony,” he said.

Mr Kpodoh, a former Security Adviser in Bayelsa, expressed his dismay against the backdrop of a radio broadcast by Governor Douye Diri on Saturday.

Mr Diri said his administration, which took off on February 14, 2020, has done very well. He listed his achievements and gave his administration a pass mark in the broadcast.

But Mr Kpodoh said when compared to Uyo in Akwa Ibom; Port Harcourt in Rivers; Calabar in Cross River, and Benin in Edo, Yenagoa smacked of underdevelopment and reflected the wickedness of the state government.

He said other non-oil producing states like Ebonyi had repositioned their capital city better than Bayelsa, which ranked fourth in oil production revenue.

Mr Kpodoh said the government scrapped the master plan of the city and resorted to undertaking uncoordinated, disjointed, disorganised and inferior projects that had made Yenagoa continue to assume an outlook of a glorified local government headquarters.

He said it was unfortunate that a project to dualise the few-kilometre Isaac Boroh expressway had taken the state government more than 10 years to complete.

Mr Kpodoh wondered why Mr Diri refused to build a flyover at the Tombia roundabout but instead opted to do what he referred to as roundabout expansion.

“That poorly expanded roundabout betrays the capital city status of an oil-producing state like Bayelsa. Tombia roundabout, which links visitors to other parts of the state, including the International Airport, deserves a beautiful flyover infrastructure with all accompanying aesthetic nuances.”

Mr Kpodoh further criticised Mr Diri for destroying what he described as illegal structures in Yenagoa without trying to rebuild and readjust them.

The former security adviser said it beat the imagination of everybody that a tower hotel project started by the government of the late Diepreye Alamieyeseigha at the heart of the city had remained uncompleted.

“This monument of disgrace is a perfect description of the lip service paid to the development of Yenagoa by the state government. Governor Douye Diri’s administration doesn’t appear disturbed by this edifice of embarrassment.

“It is time we rose up and demand a better capital, Yenagoa city, that will reflect our status as an oil-producing state. We can no longer continue to tolerate this sham development of our capital city,” he said. 

(NAN)