Emmanuel Addeh in Yenagoa
Ijaw youths have urged President Muhammadu Buhari to investigate the location of some purported projects completed by the federal government in the Niger Delta.
Specifically, they called on the President to question his ministers from the Niger Delta region for not executing the awarded projects said to be some of the achievements of the federal government in the region.
Coming under the auspices of the Ijaw Unity and Peace Committee (IUPC), the group maintained that some of the projects listed as Buhari’s achievements in Bayelsa State for instance were nowhere to be found in the state.
Consequently, they threatened to carry out massive protest against what they called diversion of projects.
The leaders particularly said projects awarded to Bayelsa under the Federal ministries of Agriculture and Niger Delta Affairs were not being implemented.
Mr. Bodmas Kemepadei, who leads the Niger Delta group, lamented that there were some persons within the Presidency sabotaging Buhari’s desire to restore sanity in the Niger Delta
Kemepadei, who is also the leader of Egbesu Brotherhood, said contrary to claims that there were rural road projects in Bayelsa as part of Buhari’s achievements in the Niger Delta, nothing of such could be found anywhere in the state.
In particular, Kemepadei maintained that the claims by the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs that the federal government constructed a cassava processing plant in Bayelsa was false and misleading.
“We seriously think President Muhammadu Buhari is not aware of what is going on in Bayelsa State because what the presidency
listed as part of its achievements in the Niger Delta is just a
figment of someone’s imagina-
tion.
“It’s only in the media that we read of projects awarded to Bayelsa by this administration, but in reality this is not true.
“Those representing Buhari in the state are deceiving him, they are not reporting the true situation of things. We have nothing to show as benefits from the present regime
“The Agricultural loans, fertilisers, rural road projects, empowerment schemes, awarded by Buhari to Bayelsa, are not being effected. There are no named Bayelsans that are beneficiaries of such programmes.
“This is not only painful but wicked. How can Buhari be awarding projects, releasing funds, yet nothing is happening? “ the group lamented.
The group leaders said they would soon stage a protest this protest to force the President to sanction those involved in the diversion projects meant for Bayelsa in particular and the Niger Delta in general.
