The Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party in Bayelsa State, George Turnah, has said the state’s worsening economic hardship was a consequence of poor spending priorities rather than inadequate revenue, urging Governor Douye Diri to launch large-scale social intervention programmes.
Turnah said the state government should immediately recruit 20,000 youths into the Bayelsa Volunteer and Bayelsa Vigilante schemes with a monthly stipend of N150,000, insisting that such an initiative would simultaneously tackle unemployment, insecurity and poverty.
Speaking with journalists on Wednesday shortly after arriving at the Port Harcourt International Airport from Abuja, he argued that the proposed programme, estimated to cost about N3bn monthly, was within the financial capacity of the state.
“The greatest challenge facing Bayelsa today is not the absence of financial resources, but misplaced priorities in public spending,” Turnah said.
He maintained that the government should redirect its focus towards programmes that provide immediate relief to residents,
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