Bayelsa Govt. claims to have lowest debt in South-South

The Bayelsa government on Wednesday said it was the least indebted state amongst the states in the South South geopolitical Zone.

The  states within the geopolitical zone are; Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Cross-River, Delta, Edo and Rivers.

Its commissioner for Information, Mr Daniel Iworiso-Markson, stated this in a statement issued in Yenagoa on Wednesday.

Markson, did not, however, disclose the entire debt profile of the state.

He said that the states’ debt profile as released by the Debt Management Office( DMO) was moderate.

He attributed the ” low” debts incurred by the state to what he termed ” frugal and judicious management of the resources by Gov. Seriake Dickson.

However, figures from the DMO portal show that as at Dec.31, 2018, the domestic debts incurred by the state stood at N130.04 billion, placing it 7 th in the nation.

According to the figures, for States in the South-South region, Delta with a debt profile of N228,8billion was placed second highest in the country, Rivers ranked third with a debt figure of N225.59 billion.

Others were; Akwa Ibom, with N 198.66 billion came fourth, Cross River ranked 5th on the list of the most highly indebted states in Nigeria with N167.955, Bayelsa was ranked 7th with N130.04 bn while Edo was 17th on the list with N86.82 bn, the least indebted in the Niger Delta region.

The Commissioner said that the Government inherited a bond of N120 billion from its predecessor at inception in 2012 and would complete repayment in June, 2019.

The Commissioner said Gov. Dickson needed commendation for keeping the debt status of the state low in spite of executing various various projects in all sectors of the economy.

He recalled that the State Government recently completed the Bayelsa International Cargo/Passenger Airport at a cost of N65 billion aside the multi billion projects in Education, Health and Agricultural sectors.

Markson, therefore, cautioned the leaders of the opposition party in the state to refrain from issuing false statements on the indebtedness of the state instead explain how the administration of Gov Timipri Silva expended N120 billion loan it left unpaid.

“It is worthy of note that the Bayelsa still remains the least indebted state in the whole of the South South region.

“This is in spite of the massive projects execution that has taken place since 2012 when the Restoration Government took over.

“The debt status of the state is modest because of the prudent and judicious management of state resources by the Governor in spite of the several completed development projects in the state.

“By this month, we will finish paying Chief Timipre Sylva’s bonds which is about N120 billion which of course, he didn’t use for anything.

“When such people make claims, they should be reminded that they have a duty to tell Bayelsans what they did with N120 billion they foisted on the state,” Iworiso-Markson said.