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By David Owei, Yenagoa
Heineken Lokpobiri, Minister of State for Agriculture on Thursday commended Bayelsa people for their rousing welcome to President Muhammad Buhari who was in the state to canvass for votes.
It would be recalled that loyalists of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bayelsa turned up en masse on Tuesday to receive the President who addressed a rally in his re-election rally.
Lokpobiri who expressed appreciation in a statement signed by Mr George Oji, his special adviser on media expressed optimism that Buhari would come out victorious in Saturday’s polls
He appealed to the people of Bayelsa to turn out in their large numbers to vote for President Muhammad Buhari and members of the National Assembly of the APC in the Saturday election in the state.
The Minister urged the people to conduct themselves in orderly manner and avoid any forms of violent act during the polls.
Lokpobiri assured the people of adequate protection as the security agencies have been put on red alert to guarantee peace and deal with any elements fomenting violence and misconducts during the election.
The minister reminded the people of the need to vote for President Buhari to return the state to the main stream of national politics, noting that this is the only way to attract more federal projects and presence to the state.
The minister maintained that the Gov Seriake Dickson led government has failed to explain what he did with the huge resources that accrued to the state in the past seven years.
According to him Bayelsa remains one of the least developed states in the country despite the N1.3 trillion that accrued to the state from the Federal Government, excluding local government allocations and loans.
The minister urges the people to evaluate the impact of the Dickson’s administration in their various local communities, this he said, should form the basis of voting and making a choice for the APC in Saturday’s elections.
Reacting on the finances that accrued to the state in the past seven years claims by Lokpobiri that the Bayelsa Airport slated for inauguration today gulped N120 bn Dickson said that Lokobiri was always dreaming of figures.
Dickson who had reacted in a radio broadcast monitored in Yenagoa dismissed the figures and said that the airport project cost the state less than N60 bn.
The Bayelsa government and the All Progressives Congress (APC) have held divergent views on the cost of the airport funded by loans obtained from some commercial banks.
Bayelsa APC spokesman, Mr Doifie Buokoribo had said that the prohibitive cost of borrowing the funds utilized for the construction of the cargo airport at prevailing interest rate of about 27 per cent over a four-year tenure pushes the cost above N100 billion.
Lokpobiri reportedly told President Muhammadu Buhari during Tuesday’s rally in Yenagoa that the airport cost the state N120 billion, a development Dickson denied during the broadcast on Wednesday night.
