As preparations for Saturday's governorship primary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) reach its peak in Bayelsa State, elders from the Central Senatorial District of the state, on Thursday, accused Governor Timipre Sylva of mortgaging the future of the people through the heavy loans his government obtained from financial institutions.They cited the N50billion bond the incumbent administration secured from the stock market as part of the debt burden impeding the economic development of the state.Addressing a press conference in Yenagoa, on Thursday, the chairman, Elders and Opinion Leaders of Bayelsa Central Senatorial District, Chief Godwin Moses Odumgba, contended that, 'one of the most frustrating undoing of the incumbent administration is the insatiable thirst for frittering public funds and incurring huge debts, thus mortgaging the future of our people and the state.'The N50billion loan in bond from the stock market and other financial commitments from banks are typical examples of factors fuelling the economic woes of Bayelsa State,' the chairman noted.Chief Odumgba regretted that 'in spite of all these loans and the huge statutory allocations from the Federation Account, there are no justifiable structures on ground or any ongoing projects to show for them.While lamenting that the state health and educational sectors were in a deplorable condition, he noted that the five-star hotel project, initiated by the administration of Chief D.S.P Alamieyeseigha, which was one of the projects that prompted the state government to obtain the N50billion, had been abandoned.But, in a swift reaction, the state Commissioner for Information and Communication, Chief Nathan Egba, described the accusation of the Bayelsa elders as 'unfounded and mere tissue of lies, concocted by political jobbers, who are doing the biddings of their paymaster.'Speaking in a phone chat with the Nigerian Tribune, the commissioner remarked that, 'we do not owe any bank or financial institution and we stand to be corrected on this issue. Besides, we challenge anybody or group with contrary evidence to come out with such over the matter.'Meanwhile, youths of Bayelsa State under the aegis of Bayelsa Youths Association (BYA), on Thursday, said that the state governor ignored their incessant warnings on his dismal performance and style of governance.They also observed that the travails of the governor over his bid to secure a second term in office would not have arose if he had taken to their advice, regarding the governance of the state.The president of BYA, Mr Elvis Donkemezuo, who said this in Yenagoa, during a press briefing on the political development in the state contended that it was worrisome that the governor's socio-economic programmes and policies did not have positive impacts on the citizenry.However, Donkemezuo said that none of the seven PDP aspirants, willing to take over from Sylva, possessed the required qualities which are germane to the restoration of the state's lost glory.He said, 'Bayelsa youths will not support any candidate that is backed by a cabal. Bayelsa is so backward and therefore needs a leader that will transform it.
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