By Samuel Oyadongha

Yenagoa—Bayelsa State governor, Mr. Seriake Dickson, yesterday, warned the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, against being used as platform to service political interests.

He said that the commission should be used to serve the interests of Niger Delta people, adding that available resources should be channeled to projects that will enhance the development and prosperity of the region.

He added that  his government was ready to partner the NDDC in building the proposed road and bridge linking Nembe to Brass, estimated to cost about N100 billion.

Dickson, when the acting Managing Director of NDDC, Mrs Ibim Semenitari, and leaders of the Ijaw Youth Council, IYC, called on him in Yenagoa, also suggested that the NDDC should collaborate with state governments in the region to execute priority projects that would serve as catalysts for the socio-economic development of the region.

The governor, who identified the three senatorial road projects in the state as key to creating access to the Atlantic Ocean and economic prosperity, said that the construction of such projects, worth billions of naira, would attract development and socio-economic progress to the state.

The governor commended the NDDC for the award of contracts in Bayelsa State, but decried the number of abandoned projects in the state, attributing the development to the over-politicization of the activities of the commission.

The governor also called on the Federal Government to constitute the governing council and advisory board of the commission to enable governors and stakeholders of the region make inputs, concerning the award of critical projects that are beneficial to the people.

Earlier, Mrs. Semenitari said that the purpose of her visit to Bayelsa was to assess on-going projects and identify areas of immediate intervention according to needs.

According to her, the NDDC had awarded a total of 28 regional projects from its inception, out of which two had been commissioned, 20 on-going, while six are yet to kick off.