Bayelsa deny spending N3bn on cars for political appointees

…Says vehicles procured on hire-purchase/lease basis

The Bayelsa State government has described as falsehood reports that it has bought official cars for political appointees saying it was the handiwork of mischief makers.

A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Daniel Iworiso-Markson explained that the purchase of the said vehicles only covered the State owned security outfit, ‘Operation Doo Akpo’ to rejuvenate and boost its functions and improve security in the state, especially within Yenagoa and its environs.

According to him, the payment for the vehicles, which has been spread over a long period of time will be deducted monthly from the beneficiaries, as against the widely spread notion that the government has dished out N3 billion to buy official cars for members of the State House of Assembly and political appointees.

The statement clarified that government is not in a good financial standing to buy cars for the use of its functionaries, stressing that even the state Governor has remained with the same set of vehicles that were procured in 2012/13, and no arrangement has been made to buy new cars in view of the state of the finances of the government.

“It must, however, be stated that as lawmakers and like their counterparts at the federal level and other states, they need cars to function and perform their duties as representatives of the people, stressing that it has always been the practice and not new to Bayelsa”, the government stated.

The statement restated Governor Seriake Dickson’s commitment to running a transparent system where the welfare of workers and the citizenry remains top most priority.

“It is therefore not true that government is owing six-month salary of workers as alleged in some of the media report, rather government is making conscious effort to clear all outstanding salaries and has even gone ahead to pay in full the salary for the month of January”, the statement said.

The government advised the media and persons spreading the unfounded rumour to cross-check their facts for the overall interest of the Government, the workers and the entire people of the state.