July 08, (THEWILL) – Julius Bokoru, the Special Assistant on Media and Public Affairs to the former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the last gubernatorial election in Bayelsa, Chief Timipre Sylva, has raised the alarm over multiple local and foreign trips of the Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri.
Bokoru, who spoke in Yenagoa at the weekend, described Diri as a “junketing Governor”, saying he had abandoned governance.
Bokoru said the Governor was constantly seeking opportunities to jet out of Bayelsa, saying that his knack for travelling had drilled a big hole in the state’s pocket.
He observed that since the 2023 governorship election, Diri had been restlessly visiting different places outside the state for his selfish interest.
Bokoru said it never bothered the Governor that the people of the state were facing hardship and needed government deliberate policies and programmes to ameliorate their plight.
“While serious governors are thinking out of the box, rolling out programmes to reduce the high cost of living and still embarking on legacy projects, Diri has been globetrotting.
“The Bayelsa Governor has been looking for every opportunity to jet out of the state. He has become a fun-seeking Governor; he has been fiddling while Rome burns.
“We challenge Diri to reel out real humanitarian interventions that his government has embarked upon to assist the Federal Government in confronting the economic hardship in the state.
“Even when the Federal Government sends palliatives to states, the people of Bayelsa under Diri don’t even know what happened to their own share of the palliatives. We understand that most of them are diverted to entertain burial guests. An investigative committee on diverted palliatives has not submitted its report after several months.
“Diri is no doubt one of the governors making things difficult for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. He is hellbent and fixated on driving negative narratives against the President because we understand that there is a plot to make him the running mate of Alh. Atiku Abubakar in the next presidential election,” he said.
Bokoru said Diri had become a permanent resident in Abuja as he strived to meet different people in his bid to manipulate justice in the case between him and Chief Timipre Sylva, which is currently at the appeal court.
“He is rather seen routinely in Abuja in money-laden convoys, Bayelsa taxpayers monies, attempting to induce judiciary characters in light of the ongoing court case.
“Our judiciary cannot and will not be bought. Ordinary Bayelsans need those monies for roads, electricity, education, food, transportation and sustenance. If those monies had been well utilised, this frenzied movement would have been unnecessary,” he added.
Amos Okioma is a Correspondent at THEWILL
