Tuesday 8 January 2013

Governor Sylva left just N4,451 in state treasury, “That’s so not true” – Sylva


Timipre Sylva
Bayelsa State governor, Seriake Dickson yesterday made a startling revelation  to the public indicating that his government inherited a paltry sum of N4,451 from his predecessor, Timipre Sylva.
The governor went on to give details of how his administration grew this amount to N16bn within a space of about one year.
He reportedly made this disclosure while giving his administration’s financial scorecard for December 2012 in Abuja. He said his state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) would hit the N2bn monthly mark by the end of the year, up from about N300mn when he assumed office.
Dickson, who was represented by his commissioner for finance, Duate Iyabi, said 2013 has been dedicated to consolidating the achievements of the preceding year.
Sylva, the former governor, however, countered this claim. He said his government did not hand over to Dickson therefore he (Dickson) is not in a position to know how much he left in the state coffers.
His spokesman, Dofie Ola said after the Supreme Court judgement which sent Sylva packing, he handed over to the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Nestor Binabo and not Dickson.
“We did not hand over to Dickson, there was an acting governor who took over from us and so the question should go to him (Binabo),” Ola said yesterday.
The former governor is currently facing corruption charges with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, which last week sealed 48 choice property in Abuja allegedly belonging to him, although Sylva has insisted that he did not have more than three property in Abuja.
The Bayelsa government maintained that despite the scarcity of funds it intends to complete ongoing projects in the state.
Iworiso-Markson, the chief press secretary to the governor said Dickson is proceeding on a two-week break as part of his annual vacation which he did not observe because of pressing state assignments.

No comments: