The governorship candidate of the Labour Party, LP, in Bayelsa State, Udengs Eradiri, has challenged Governor Douye Diri to be honest with the cost of his projects in the State.
Eradiri in a chat with DAILY POST, responded to a statement released by Diri’s camp in reaction to an allegation of inflated road project costs.
Diri, while reacting to Eradiri’s allegation through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Daniel Alabrah, had described the LP candidate as an unrepentant liar.
Diri’s spokesman berated Eradiri for frequently making mendacious statements and churning out inaccurate statistics in a bid to grandstand and attract attention to himself.
But, speaking with DAILY POST, Eradiri said Diri dissipated his energy calling him a liar without contradicting the bogus figure.
Eradiri said, “The people of Bayelsa expected Governor Douye Diri to provide a contrary cost for the project, something lower than the N30 billion. The inflated and outrageous cost is the issue not the history that Governor Douye Diri is dissipating his energy telling the people.
Governor Diri should come clean on the costs of all his projects.
“Everything about to the cost of his project is shrouded in secrecy. If he has nothing to hide I challenge him to publish the costs of some of these substandard projects. It is not his money, it is the people’s money and the people deserve to know.
“It beats our imagination that Diri used about 10 paragraphs of his statement calling me a liar without providing any figure to contradict the N30 billion spent on 10km road.
Bayelsa can no longer afford to entertain leaders, who hide under inferior projects to fritter away our scarce commonwealth
“Transparency and accountability in governance is the foundation of trust in leadership. It can never be swept under the carpet.”