A socio-political group, Bayelsa New Face Initiative (BNFI) has lampooned the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, for his lack of interest in the development of Bayelsa state.
The group noted that as minister of such a strategic federal ministry, Chief Sylva has failed to attract any meaningful project to the state either from his ministry or any other federal agency.
BNFI, in a statement by its State Co-ordinator, Comrade Charles Ikio, expressed deep concerns that instead of the minister to join hands with the incumbent governor to attract worthy federal projects to the state, he has repeatedly placed his personal and selfish interest above the development of Bayelsa state.
The group expressed the regrets that instead of Sylva protecting state’s assets, he wishfully superintended over the re-allocation of a prized state-owned asset like the Atala oil field and claiming ignorance at the several attempts to hijack it.
“Imagine such a son of the state, a former governor who once could not even develop the oil field. He just gave out the asset in a suspicious manner. We are investigating further of his perceived complicity.
“This is a minister who presided over a process where the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) resolved to fix 21 federal roads at N621 billion across the country and knowing that Bayelsa State is in need of such infrastructural support, could not influence a single kilometre. What a shame!”
The BNFI said under his watch as minister of state for petroleum resources, he abandoned the multi-billion dollar Brass Liquefied Natural Gas project and other projects sited in his own Brass Local Government Area, ” the people of Brass Local Government are wiser and know what to do when he comes home with his usual dollar spraying gimmicks.”
“The potential and benefit of this LNG to jobs and wealth creation as well as journey to industrialisation of the oil-rich state appears not to be of interest to him. He has dashed the hopes of many Bayelsans who were looking ahead for this facility to change our history. Sylva, again failed the people”, the group lamented.
BNFI said the many failures of Sylva were very visible to all even when he had the opportunities to re-write his name after his inglorious reign as governor of Bayelsa state for 5 years.
“This is a man whom Bayelsans believed did not do well as governor. He ruled the state with exuberance and now, we thought he will redeem himself but he simply failed to do that. He stayed away in Abuja to cruise and when election gets near, he will return home. Bayelsans are waiting for him. They know him already”, the group stated.
