From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa

The Bayelsa State governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Udengs Eradiri, has queried claims by the Bayelsa State Government that it used N30 billion to complete the ongoing 10.2km phase two of the Glory Drive dual carriageway.

He wondered how the road project, which was almost completed by former Governor Henry Seriake Dickson, could still gulp such an outrageous amount of money.

He recalled that while former Governor Timipre Sylva completed the clearing component of the project, his successor Dickson carried out the sand-filling aspect while Diri was only expected to asphalt it.

The candidate, who spoke in Yenagoa after receiving officials of the US Consulate-General led by the consulate’s Political/Economic Section’ Chief, Mr. Mike Elvin, said the implication was that Diri spent N3 billion to construct each kilometre of the road.

Describing Diri’s administration as lacking in transparency and accountability, Eradiri asked the governor to disclose the total cost of other projects he started in with an ill-fated motive to brighten his chances at the poll.

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  “Sand-filling of that road was done by Governor Dickson. I have strong reservations about that amount spent on that road. The governor should also tell us all the roads, how much did you spend? Because it’s as if somebody is not doing his arithmetic properly or they are deliberately using road construction to siphon funds in this state.

“Tell us, the Nembe-Brass road, how much have you earmarked? How much have you mobilized? When is it going to be concluded; whether it is in your tenure or not? You tell us because these are projections that are made in every project. For the governor to tell us that he spent 30 million on a ten kilometer road, something is fundamentally wrong.

“So, I have reservations, the same way he must tell us how much he has spent on the Ekeremor road, so that we know whether we are harboring political criminals or we have governors, we want to know.

“If you tell us that you spent N30 billion in that place, then we need to know how much you spent in Ekeremor for a road that was practically done by the former administration. This clarity needs to be done for us to know who we are dealing with. If we have somebody who is squandering our resources, they should come and tell us”.

Eradiri noted that some of the critical roads that should be done to unlock the economic potential of the state like the Nembe/ Brass and the Ekeremor/ Agge roads are being poorly conceived with single lanes.