This came a day after Nairametrics revealed that Nyesom Wike, Governor of Rivers State, revealed that the many projects he has delivered were funded from 13% cumulative bypass funds, which were owed to Rivers and other delta states. Niger since 1999.
The Bayelsa state government acknowledged that it also received its bypass back payments, but claims that the FG underpaid the state.
This was revealed by Douye Diri, the governor of Bayelsa in a statement on Tuesday.
Diri stated that Bayelsa had received funds and had been deploying them on capital projects, citing that Bayelsa discounted the funds.
- “To the people who are talking about the 13% bypass funds that are owed to the state, I want to point out that for one reason or another, we were underpaid. When we found that out, we followed due process from the State Executive Council to the State House of Assembly. Approvals were given and funds were deducted.
- “I don’t play politics with this kind of thing. For anyone who wants to see how we use our money, our monthly transparency report on our financial income and expenses is available.
He pointed out that it is more expensive to build a one kilometer highway in Yenagoa than four kilometers elsewhere.
what you should know
Nairametry previously reported that Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike explained how he managed to finance the many projects in the state today, stating that the projects were financed with cumulative diversion funds of 13%, which were owed to Rivers and other Niger Delta states since 1999.
The funds were recently released by the presidency. He thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for approving the release of the funds despite Rivers State being ruled by an opposition party. He also emphasized that the money was not from the Federation Accounts Allocation Commission (FAAC).