Tag: Diri

A former Labour Party governorship candidate in Bayelsa state, Udengs Eradiri, has called on the state governor, Douye Diri and his colleagues to immediately embark on quick-win projects in their various states to alleviate the hardship fueling protest across the country.

Udengs, a former president of the Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) Worldwide, recommended some quick-win projects for Diri and other governors insisting that individual states must deliberately help President Bola Tinubu to ameliorate the situation.

Udengs, former Commissioner for Youths and later Environment,  said with the flood approaching, Diri and governors of flood-prone states should immediately engage the youths to clean drainages.

He said: “With the floods approaching, it’s crucial to clean the drainages in the state capital and key local governments. Group youths into teams of 10 and allocate between N5million to N10million naira for each group to clean the drainages.

“Engage youths in painting streets and walkways in the state and local government headquarters. This initiative will not only beautify our surroundings but also inject money directly into the streets.

 “Agriculture is vital, but our first hurdle is land preparation. The government should earmark funds for land preparation as an intervention, empowering the people of Bayelsa across the three senatorial districts”.

Eradiri in a statement said Diri and other governors had more responsibilities to calm the situation than the Federal Government.

He said: “We can start planting cassava, sugarcane, sweet potatoes, yams, peppers, and vegetables. These crops are familiar to our people. What we need is mechanization, monitoring, access to seedlings, pesticides, and funding, which Bayelsa State can provide”.

Speaking specifically to Diri, he said: “Governor Douye Diri should revive  Igbogene Fish Farm. This project must move beyond lip service and provide practical solutions to the food crisis in the state.

“Governor Diri should revive the Ebedebiri Cassava Processing Facility. Utilize this facility by setting up logistics and offtake units to source cassava within the state. This will encourage more farming and job creation. Additionally, revive the 45,000-bird capacity poultry farm at Ebedebiri to boost local livestock production.

“Governor Diri should revive the Bayelsa Palm. Palm oil is a significant business in Nigeria. By bottling and packaging palm oil, we can make it affordable and generate revenue while creating jobs. This facility can partner with local producers, encouraging more production and supply to Bayelsa Palm”.

Read Also: Otti, Soludo, Diri ask youths to heed Tinubu’s call for dialogue

Eradiri said the governors should engage youth groups comprising young men and women to participate in the quick-win projects. 

He said: “Start with a budget of one billion naira, which is a small investment compared to the scale of our problems. Scale up based on the initial outcomes, but ensure the government is committed to these solutions and avoids politicization.

“Ensure that the companies awarded contracts employ Bayelsans, including indigenous contractors and women, for supply tasks.

“The governors should please organise town hall meetings to gather more information and input from their subjects.”

Governor of Bayelsa State, Douye Diri, has described the appeal filed by the governorship candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in the November 11, 2023 poll in the state, Chief Timipre Sylva, as a needless distraction.

In his reaction shortly after the Appeal Court sitting in Abuja dismissed the application of Sylva and the APC for lacking in merit, Diri said the case was not only a distraction for him but for the entire state.

A statement by his chief press secretary, Daniel Alabrah, quoted the governor as saying that he was not surprised about the outcome of the case given the character of the APC candidate.

He said the verdict was a victory for the people of the state and that he was ready to meet Sylva at the Supreme Court.

He said: “It (the appeal) is a distraction not only to me but also to the government and people of the state. You also know the character of the person involved. So this is not unexpected.

Read Also: BREAKING: Appeal Court affirms Diri’s election for second term

“However, it is a victory for Bayelsa State and I do not think I want to waste my time calling on anybody to work with us. They already said they are going to the Supreme Court. So, we will meet them there.”

Counsel for Governor Diri, Chris Uche (SAN), who also spoke to journalists, explained that the appellant (Sylva) failed to provide evidence and that the verdict of the appeal court vindicated his legal team and the election tribunal, which earlier upheld Governor Diri’s election.

Uche said by the victory, the governor could now concentrate on his service to the people of the state and expressed the confidence that given the facts of the case, the verdict of the Supreme Court would not be different.

The Niger Delta Integrity Movement (NDIM) has alleged Bayelsa Governor, Douye Diri joined forces with former vice president, Atiku Abubakar to frustrate the aspiration of President Bola Tinubu.

In a statement in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, by its National Coordinator, Bassey Otom Bassey, NDIM said one of the ways Diri worked against Tinubu was through the Naira redesign policy of the CBN.

Bassey maintained that Diri supported Atiku, a northerner, against the political interest of the South whose turn it was to produce the President in 2023 after ex-president Muhammadu Buhari who served eight years in  ofrice.

He recalld that the Bayelsa Governor even betrayed his brother from Rivers, Nyesom Wike, who was then the Governor of Rivers and presidential aspirant  during the primary election of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) because of his fondness for Atiku.

Bassey said even when Wike, out of his love for the country’s unity risked his life to champion power rotation on the grounds of fairness, justice and equity, Diri was busy plotting a return of another northern President after eight years of President Muhammadu Buhari.

He said the Bayelsa Governor took his battle against President Tinubu to a disgusting level when he supported the Naira redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Bassey said: “It is on record that only Diri and his Edo State counterparts, Godwin Obaseki, from the Southsouth that went to the Supreme Court to join the suit in support of the Naira redesign policy.

“Diri supported it with his full chest despite the hardship and suffering the evil policy inflicted on ordinary Nigerians including the citizens of Bayelsa, whom he took oaths of office to protect.

“To Diri everything against Tinubu, every policy to frustrate his emergence was good even if millions of ordinary Nigerians would suffer and die from it. We can’t forget that inhuman, reckless and insensitive stance of Diri in his quest to foist another Northern President on us.

“It was heartbreaking to us because we saw how progressive governors of many states even those that were in PDP fought against that Naira redesign wickedness. To them it was politics taken too far. But for Diri it was an opportunity to frustrate the Jagaban”.

Read Also: Perform or get fired, Diri tells newly-constituted cabinet members

Bassey said his group would have kept quiet if Diri had not tried to deny a call on Atiku by another group, the Diri Angels, to make Diri his running mate in 2027.

He said: “We believe that Diri is simply denying the obvious. His link with Atiku is inseparable and at the right time the signs will manifest. 

“Diri’s denial is simply for some immediate political gratifications. Once, he gets whatever he is looking for the Diri we know, will fully activate this his next ambition”, he said.

Bayelsa state governor, Douye Diri, has warned that he will not hesitate to wield the big stick on any commissioner who performs below expectation.

He also implored members of the newly constituted cabinet to key into his administration’s vision of providing service to people of the state.

Diri gave the admonition on Thursday, July 11, during the 130th session of the state executive council in Government House, Yenagoa.

Diri, who stated that his administration’s policies and programmes were having positive impact on people of the state, urged the new cabinet members to make service to the state a priority.

Read Also: Diri’s investment in education, infrastructure recognized by Forbes

He said he was delighted and encouraged that the people appreciated the developmental projects as attested by accolades from Bayelsans.

He particularly mentioned the ongoing construction of the Nembe-Brass road, the completed Sagbama-Ekeremor road, building and equipping of science, technical and vocational schools among other projects and policies in different sectors across the state.

H expressed the optimism that the new commissioners would perform well as they were carefully chosen based on their pedigrees.

He also charged them to work as a team in order to achieve the administration’s agenda.

He said: “You have joined this executive council at a moment so much is expected of us. You are our eyes and ears in the ministries. 

“Any member of the state executive council that does not work in tandem with the policies and vision of this government, we will wield the big stick. You are all men of integrity as you were carefully chosen and we believe that you will perform well.”

Bayelsa State governor, Douye Diri, has rejected the suggestion for former Vice President of Nigeria, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, to choose him as his running mate in the 2027 presidential election.

The suggestion, made by a group named Diri Angels, was sarcastically proposed in a statement on Tuesday, July 2.

The group expressed hope that Atiku Abubakar, who was the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the 2023 presidential election, would emerge as the party’s candidate again in 2027.

Diri dismissed the suggestion as a trick from political opportunists and advised for it to be disregarded entirely.

The Bayelsa governor said the aim of the group, which he believed was non-existent, was to cause disaffection in some quarters and that the plot had failed.

Read Also: Edo 2024: Court affirms Kadiri as LP’s deputy guber candidate

He emphatically stated that God had always guided him on his political journey and that he was not swayed by any advocacy that was inconsistent with his godly and political principles.

Diri promised his commitment to delivering the dividends of democracy to the people of Bayelsa State based on the mandate they first gave him in 2019 and re-affirmed on November 11, 2023.

He urged people of the state not to worry about the antics of political buccaneers whose intention was to confuse in an attempt to distract him.

Diri said: “I am not swayed by such calls. In my political journey, I have always relied on God and not on political jobbers with devious intentions.

“The aim of those behind this act is to cause disaffection but the plot is dead on arrival as I’m not interested in such a Greek gift.

“I remain committed to the mandate given to me by the Bayelsa people and I’m single-mindedly focused on delivering the dividends of democracy to them. My administration will not be distracted by those who do not mean well for our state.”