SDP presidential candidate, Adebayo support Bayelsa flood victims with N10m, As Gov Diri expresses gratitude

Presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, in the 2023 general election, Prince Adewole Adebayo has donated a sum of N10 million to the victims of the flood in Bayelsa State.

Disclosing this, Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, expressed gratitude to Prince Adebayo for supporting the state with a donation of N10 million to cater for flood victims.

Governor Diri, who gave the commendation during a courtesy visit by the SDP candidate called on the federal government to fund the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, adequately just as it has been funding the North-East Development Commission to enable it effectively respond to natural disasters.

Represented by his Deputy, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, the Governor desscribed the effect of the flood as unimaginable, noting that the state would require a lot of resources for the recovery process in terms of physical infrastructure and human resources that have been lost to the flood.

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“We want to thank you for this auspicious visit at this time. All the major tributaries empty their volume of water in Bayelsa which lies about 1.5 metres below sea-level.

”We are very happy you have come to see things for yourself, because the magnitude of damage here is not only colossal but very daring and unimaginable. It would require huge amount of resources to recover in terms of infrastructure.”

Speaking earlier, the Presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, Prince Adewole Adebayo said N10 million was donated as part of intervention efforts to assuage the impact of the natural disaster that ravaged the people for the past few weeks.

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While expressing sympathy with the government and people of Bayelsa over the level of devastation caused by the natural disaster, the SDP presidential candidate said he was saddened by what he saw while coming into the state.

Alluding to the recent comments by the Humanitarian Affairs Minister, Sadiyat Farouk about Bayelsa not being among the top ten most flood impacted states, Prince Adebayo condemned what he described as stay-at-home analysts who make comments on things they have not seen.

He said the resources at the disposal of states particularly in the Niger Delta were grossly inadequate to tackle challenges bedeviling them and advocated that the derivation principle should not be anything less than 50%.

He said:”In view of the wealth of resources coming from here l was expecting to see federal agencies making some interventions concerning the flood. As a way of our intervention, we are making a modest contribution of N10 million.

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“As a way of according a national recognition to the issue of flooding, a national appropriation bill should be put in place to address this problem.

“The debate about restructuring is not academic nor political but a pragmatic common sense. It stands to reason that we should not take away all the resources from those who can immediately intervene and put it in the hands of people who are too far away from the reality on ground.

“So l see no reason why derivation principle should be less than 50%. And this is not a pro-Bayelsa statement but a pro-common sense” he said.