From Mike Tayese, Yenagoa

Bayelsa State Government said it has spent N163.4 million to upset the allowances of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members serving in the state for the months of October, November and December, 2023.

The state Commissioner for Finance, Maxwell Ebibai, while reeling out government incomes and expenditures during the state monthly transparency last weekend in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital, said the total inflow to the state between the three months was over N200 billion.

He said the state government also invests most of the income on the ongoing projects, payment of workers salary with new minimum wage increase, pension and gratuities of retirees among others.

He expressed the government’s commitment to completing all the ongoing projects and ensuring that no infrastructure development is left abandoned.

He emphasized that all projects under Governor Diri’s administration are meticulously planned, ensuring that funds are available for their completion before they are even initiated.

He noted that capital payments for government projects are released periodically based on certification, ensuring that no project is stalled due to lack of funds.

He added that the administration has deliberately created savings to cover outstanding certificates when they become due, preventing financial constraints from hindering progress.

He also stated that Governor Diri government is focused on embarking on projects that are not only necessary but also carefully structured within a broader development framework and assured that by the end of the administration, there would be no abandoned projects in Bayelsa.

Ebibai stressed that while some projects may still be ongoing, the state government is making provisions to ensure that sufficient funds are reserved for their eventual completion.

He said: “The governor has always reiterated and emphasized at different points that the projects of a prosperous government are planned in a manner that the state will have the capacity to complete these projects and we won’t have abandoned projects.

“You see periodic heavy capital payment when certificates are presented. Our own certificates are not yet due. There are savings to take care of those certificates when they are presented because we are planning for the completion of those projects to ensure that those projects are completed.

“So the government of Senator Douye Diri, as governor of Bayelsa State, is very prudent in trying, not just in embarking on projects that cannot be completed, but projects that reasonably, he has planned for and knows how these projects will be completed.

“They are not just projects coming up like that but they are projects that are part of a puzzle and we are picking and completing the puzzle gradually bringing up projects that are very relevant and completing the puzzle. So we hope that by the end of the government, there will be no abandoned projects. They may be ongoing projects and there will likely be savings for those projects to be completed.”

The State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Ebiuwou Koku-Obiyai, said the government will remain accountable at all times in its project’s execution.