No More Room For Briefcase Contractors In Bayelsa — Dickson

 

Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson has been in the saddle barely three months and has attracted mixed judgements over the performance of his administration. In this interview with Osa Okhomina, the governor explains his administration’s policy on conserving state funds and his proposed restoration agenda for Bayelsa.
Barely three months into your administration, many seem to be confused at your proposed restoration plan; how would you described your policies and proposed plan?
With a great sense of commitment to what we have achieved and set out to do, the transparency issue is an integral part of this administration. For the month of May, we had a drastic reduction in the monthly inflow and what we got was N11.9 billion. You remember that, in February, during the first transparency briefing, we got N17 billion. What we now got was a far cry from that. That underscores why we have to be prudent and that is why people say that I am a ‘tight-hand governor.’ But we do have to be prudent. We don’t spend resources of the state in a way we won’t spend our own. We must be prudent because we don’t know what comes tomorrow. Our entire economy is based on a commodity that is volatile, in which we produce, but do not have control. That is why we have to be careful, prudent and transparent;  that is why l and members of my team are making savings for the state.
 Can you tell us the typical monthly spending of the state allocation by your administration?
Our spending start with the rendition of  the statement of account to the media and the people of the state. In May, we got one 11.9 billion. We all know that the past administration committed the state into huge financial liabilities, which we are paying much to service. In debt and loans, the first set of obligations was to the tune of N1.2 billion. That was not money accrued to the state but money, your money, that was taken at source. Foreign loans and other obligation amount to N15.1 million and the excess crude deductions,  over paid to the past administration, are being repaid by my  administration to the tune of N509 million. All are being taken from source. Again, another refund and overpayment being re-paid by us  include N108 million. Another one is N392million. We are paying for fertilizer, and I am interested and have directed the State Commissioner for Agriculture to investigate and furnish me with details. It is  a deduction of N114 million on account of supply of fertilizer. The report from the Agric Ministry will reveal how many was supplied, who are the beneficiaries and other issues.  When you take away all these deductions done by Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC), we are left with N6 billion from May allocation. That was what we received in May after all deductions.
How do you then pay salaries?
It has not been easy. In that same month of May, after all deductions, we also service loans and bonds. As you know, government is continuum, and even when we disagree with what has been done before we come, you cannot run away from the. It is not that easy. As you know, to guard against some, we went to court to stop the Irrevocable Standing Payment Order (ISPO) of N300 million monthly. Now with that off, there are several others. I have authorized the payment of N717 million in the month of May as loan repayment. And there is another deduction from Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and I have asked the Finance Commissioner to give detail on this deduction. It came up to N200 million.
Now the salaries of civil servants now come in, and you remember that when we assumed office, the total salary of workers was N5.2 billion. Now, with the efforts of government and support by all of you, the salary obligation is now N3.85 billion. It will be an ongoing effort.  Let me also warn that the verification exercise will continue until we get it right.  As you can see, the sacrifices and inconveniences have continued to yield results. We are not out to punish people; we are out to do what is right. The salaries of political appointees, including myself, come to N146 million as against N500 million being paid by the previous administration. While we are trying to accommodate more people, we balance it in favour of saving for the state. Our monthly overhead when we took over was 1.9 billion, but now it is N860million. There are some ISPOs that is up to N249million  for the MDG projects we have now paid off.
While many states seem to be spending on projects and raising bonds from banks to finance Infrastructural development, many say you were busy saving? What do you think of these?
In May, our compulsory saving with existing law backing came up to N250 million. When you add what is left to what we have saved in previous months, we now have approximately N24.5billion for these few months in office and this is what we have saved. Of this sum, you know that about N2.7 million is the Statutory Savings and the governor has no power for the expenditure from the savings. That is, it has to be done, in extreme cases, with the two-third support of the members of the State House of Assembly.  That is how difficult we have made it so that we can save for tomorrow and for the children yet unborn. But at the same time, it leaves whoever is in charge of managing the affairs of the state an opportunity when there is a compelling case to go to the representatives of our people for consent. The savings, as far as we are concerned, is a no go area. What is in the State Strategic Account is N2.75billion and when you take it out, what you actually have in the account is what we call Bayelsa Strategic Development Account,  and it is N22 billion.
 With such an amount, what is causing the delay in the take-off of development projects in the state?
We actually wanted to start the presentation of bank checks to most of our development partners and major construction companies slated to handled the  various development projects in the state. As you know, Julius Berger is back to Yenagoa, and Setraco is mobilising. As you also know, the Gitto is mobilizing to the site of the Tower Hotel, even without payment from us. And I thank them for the confidence they have shown in government and I assure that such confidence will not be misplaced. This government wants to affirm that if we make a commitment, it is our bond; if we make a promise, you can go to the bank with it. We are bringing in  the Chinese. And I want to tell you that day-after-day, investors, construction companies and development partners are streaming into Yenagoa. Even investors  from South Africa are coming. And I have told them that we have no room for briefcase contractors and consultants in the state again. We want development partners and investors. And the new Bayelsa will be open for business. We would have presented checks to the construction companies to symbolize the commencement of the real business of restoration. Unfortunately, because of the Dana Airplane disaster, it could not take place. I was told most of them had some staff in the plane. I offer my heart-felt condolence. It will be done soon; be assured  of that. That real business of restoration is on course. As soon as payments are done, we will them. The only payment that would not be done is the Nembe- Brass project. We have asked a bigger company to bid for the job and once they finish the tender, they will be mobilized to move down to Nembe for the construction of the trunk A road.
What of the recent order on roads being constructed by the NDDC in Bayelsa?
Yes, the decision was based on our seriousness for infrastructural development. We told the NDDC to stop further work on the Sagbama – Ekeremor road. They have been working on the road for over 12 years. We would not play politics with development and we will not allow any agency to play small politics with the development of our people; we will not allow it. We have told the management of NDDC to stop where they are. We asked them to pay their contractor and pack their bags. We told them that there is a government in place now that understands the issue of development. And that we will take over the construction of the road ourselves. You will soon go here and  commence clearing and allign it with the one being handled by Setraco and, before December, we would be there at Ekeremor. We have to finish the three Senatorial districts. These are what we are doing.
 How much does the state save monthly?
Our law says five percent. We will improve once our earnings is more, because we cannot be saving at the expense of development. While we want to save for the rainy days, we need funds for development. I thank Bayelsans for the patience and commitment for development. If they give a year to assess me, that is fair enough. After all, this is just the third month in a four-year tenure and every year has 12 months. Very soon, what they will see will satisfy them.
What are those priority projects outlined by your administration?
All that I talk about, and concern about, are my priorities. All that we have lined up to do are all priority. But if you ask me, I am concerned about education. And we need to invest in security. I am also concerned about the health sector and, soon, you will see empowerment programme for rural dwellers. But obviously, you can single out our investment in education, tourism and infrastructure.  By the way, that is why investors kept coming. There is so much to be done. All of them are priority. In Yenagoa alone, apart from major roads we talk about, there would be so much construction. It would be a renewal of infrastructure in the state capital. All the major roads, and new roads, will be constructed. We know about the rain prediction; when the rain stops, we will continue. I was elected to renew infrastructure.
In all this, where does the internally generated revenue come in?
Our IGR rating is poor. We have a problem in that area and that is why we have to be transparent and prudent. We are not self sustainable as a state unless we get to a point where the IGR can meet up our recurrent obligations. If not, we are just living on borrowed times. As governor, anything they bring and you sign. But tomorrow, anything can so wrong with the oil market and we will not be able to pay our salaries, and that is why we are working on the payroll system. That is why we have to invest to broaden the base of our economy. So that we can now beef up our IGR. The monthly IGR to the state from February 2012 to April 2012 is N551million - N60million in Febuary, N284million in March and N207million in April. And these are deductions from salaries of appointees and civil servants. There is no private sector effort that has beefed up the IGR. In this country, there are states that receive as much N15billion monthly and even states like Lagos are making close to N20billion. Yet, you can see the irony - that most of the firms producing here and adding to our environmental problems  don’t have offices here. Their offices are in those big states and cities. And even the ones that work here, their salaries are domiciled in those places and they pay taxes to those states. This is why all of us must embrace peace and stability. When I met with the management team of AGIP and they expressed concern over peace and security, I told them that we are capable of bringing about peace. We have done it. Those who tell others to do unruly things and engage in violence are not our friends; they are actually our enemies. That is why this government is working hard, with your support and the security agents, to ensure security. And every investment made by the state under me would be investment that will attract people. When you hear me talk about an airport, it is not that few people want to use an airport;  it is because we want to open a gateway to the rest of the country and the world. Do you know that people come to business in Yenagoa and get in a hurry to return to Port Harcourt and Lagos. Even if they had to continue the meeting the next day, they prefer to go to Warri and Port Harcourt to sit out and come back to Yenagoa in the morning. This has to stop. It is not only the expatriates but our own brothers including some people that wanted to be governors of Bayelsa; they don’t have houses here. Our own leaders don’t have houses here. So for them, Bayelsa is one fishing pot in which they come, fish and go out. We are passionate about the IGR. As we expand the economy, all of us must become investment promoters. Apart from promoting peace, my challenge is investment promotion. What Bayelsa gets now is less than what some local governments get.
What would be the role of the Indigenous contractors? Would you encourage Local Content Policy?
We know them and they know us. We will promote them and support them. But I hope you are not suggesting that, after cancelling the shoddy contract job awarded Moreno, an indigenous company, I should re-award it to an indigenous contractor. I know that was not what you meant and I know you want the best for the state. We will encourage indigenous entrepreneurs and that is the target of our administration. It is to build the local economy. We know what they can do and when we see an indigenous contractor to construct these roads. Julius Berger and the Chinese companies for now.
In all your plans, you have failed to mention the much invested Bayelsa Oil Company and the Bayelsa Plastic Industry. Huge funds were invested in them by past administration and we want to know your plans on them?
Very soon I will deliver a lecture about the economy. And we in this administration are very serious to reposition our economy and place Bayelsa on the world economy compass. That was why we embarked on the investment drive to South Africa. It was deliberate; it is the biggest African economy. We just hear that the place is in Africa, their economy is compared to the first world standard. I don’t want to pre-empt my briefing on the economy but we are setting up various companies by which the government will activate the economy and then take the back seat.
That is how we want to run our agriculture and others. Government will create the vehicle and create the environment. Bring in investors and partner with these firms to give support. This will happen in agriculture, tourism and the development of the 500-bed hospitals. That is how to do it, because when you talk to serious minded investors and they see your company directly linked to government, they will not take you seriously. They know the government can never manage business well. We are setting up a lot of companies and our aim is to use them to jump-start the economy, encourage indigenous entrepreneurship and no interference by government. At the appropriate time, government will decide how to divest. We have a concept we are developing in the Bayelsa Development Corporation. You have never heard it before and that is where all our assets and investments will be ware-housed. The development corporation will play at a world stage. Bayelsa Oil Company Limited (BOCL) is a very important company for the state. BOCL is a special company that means so much to us and we are thinking of how to increase the assets of the company. When we set up the development corporation we are planning, we can now use it to assist BOCL. BOCL is alive and we will give special attention. On the plastic industry, I have heard a lot about the company. And we are going to do something about it. We are going to appoint people to look at it. The plastic company will be put in the hands of competent people and the government will create a market for it For example, since we are promoting free and compulsory education, we are going to tell you about the plan to supply free books.
On the N1billion your administration set aside for scholarship, there seems to be unusual activity over who to benefit from the scheme. What is your take on it.?
I want to beg people that they are not now looking for money because it is available. I want you all to let us have the boys and girls who have post-graduate ambition abroad. I don’t want any kobo of that money to be un-utilized. It would be painful for me. I would be inaugurating the Scholarship Board to drive the scheme. For those who are good enough to go back to school, please it is not too late to buy forms in any university. I don’t need to know them; it is enough that they are Bayelsans and Ijaw indigenes - that qualifies you immediately. It is the best form of empowerment that you can give to your people. We want to also send our students to the best secondary schools in the country. The president started it in Bayelsa with 100 students, we will triple it, select the best and let them benefit. While we are building our own model secondary school, we will take as many of them into the best available ones abroad and in Nigeria. We want to make them become champions in their various schools. My only request is for the beneficiaries to go and come back to serve.