According to Vanguard, Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson,
yesterday, said he inherited N4,451 from his predecessor, Timipre Sylva,
in February 2012 and gave a graphic account of how his administration grew the
paltry sum to over N16 billion.
Dickson made this
disclosure while presenting his administration’s financial scorecard for
December 2012, yesterday in Abuja. He said his state’s Internally Generated
Revenue (IGR) would hit the N2 billion monthly mark by the end of the year, up
from about N300 million when he assumed office. Dickson, who was represented by
his Commissioner for Finance, Duate Iyabi, said 2013 has been dedicated to
consolidating the achievements of the preceding year.
I didn’t handover
to Dickson – Sylva
Countering
Dickson’s claim yesterday, Sylva said the governor was not in a position to
know how much he left in the state’s coffers because Dickson did not take over
from him.
Sylva’s Spokesman,
Dofie Ola said Dickson could not have inherited anything from the former
governor because Sylva did not hand over to him.
He said after the
Supreme Court judgment, Sylva handed over to the former Speaker of the State
House of Assembly, Mr. Nestor Binabo. “We did not hand over to Dickson, there
was an acting governor who took over from us and so the question should go to
him (Binabo),” Ola said yesterday.
The former governor
is currently facing corruption charges with the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission, EFCC, which last week sealed 48 choice property in Abuja allegedly
belonging to him, although Sylva has insisted that he did not have more than
three property in Abuja.
We will complete
on-going projects – Dickson
However,
despite funds constraints, Dickson assured that ongoing projects would be
completed.
From the state’s
savings, disclosed Iyabi, N1.5 billion was drawn to assist persons displaced by
the recent flooding disaster. The flooding notwithstanding, he said Bayelsa was
able to implement 85 per cent of capital expenditure for 2012.
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