Looting Conduit: Bayelsa State Government Budgets N4 Billion For Frivolous Items Under Ng-Cares

PAUL UTEBOR

A study of the Bayelsa State budget for 2025 has exposed how the State government continues to earmark humongous amounts of money for self-gratification projects, ignoring the plight of the masses despite the prevailing economic hardship in the country.

The State government earmarked the sum of N500,000,000 for its welfare packages as against the sum of N50,000,000 approved in 2024, with no amount allocated for welfare in 2023.

The budget for the state NG-Cares amount to 4,000,000,000 for its expenditures with recurrent cost amounting to N1,000,000,000. This is a 100 percent increment compared to the 2024 budget approved for the same cost.

Breaking down the budget reveals that local and international training was set at N50,000,000 each, with cleaning and fumigation service to gulp the sum of N20,000,000.

Refreshment and meals was allocated the sum of N20,000,000 as against the sum of N15,000,000 in the year 2024. Honorarium and sitting allowance to gulp N50,000,000, and Publicity and Advertisements to gulp N20,000,000 as against N13,000,000 in 2024.

For the agencies budget on utilities, the state budgeted the sum of N4,000,000 naira each for electricity charges and telephone charges – this is the same for the year 2024, with no amount budgeted for such item in the year 2023.

Finally, the government plans to spend the sum of N3,000,000,000 for the construction/provision of infrastructure in the year 2025 as against the sum of N1,000,000,000 in the year 2024, with no amount allocated to the same project in the year 2023.

The Bayelsa state budget was signed into law in December 2024 by the state governor, Senator Douye Diri, which was tagged the “Budget of Assured Prosperity”.

The bill, initially presented by the governor on 31st October with a proposed figure of N689.4 billion, was increased by N10.1 billion to N699.7 billion by the House of Assembly.