Follow Us on Google
From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
Two groups are at loggerheads in Bayelsa over the collapse of the state’s diagnostic centre located in Yenagoa, the state capital.
Concerned Members of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Bayelsa State have called on former Governor Seriake Dickson to explain his role in the collapse of the multi-billion naira Bayelsa Diagnostic Centre (BDC)
The group in a statement issued in Yenagoa said that it was disheartening that the centre, which the former governor boasted would promote medical tourism in the state, folded up even before the end of Dickson’s administration.
The chairman of the group, Preye Perez, insisted that Dickson set up the medical facility to temporarily satisfy himself explaining that the former governor deliberately established the facility to fail.
He asked members of the public to compel Dickson to account for the circumstances that led to its exit stressing that the anti-corruption agencies should without any further delay swing into a thorough investigation of the project.
Perez recalled that Dickson showcased the centre to the world and brought some high-profile personalities such as former President Olusegun Obasanjo to undertake medical tourism in the facility.
“We feel embarrassed that such a sophisticated medical facility, which former President Olusegun Obasanjo and other very important personalities were exposed to by former Governor Seriake Dickson, folded up even before Dickson left office,” he stated.
Read also: NFF Election: My ambition not a ` Do or Die’ affair — 1st VP
“We cannot imagine how disappointed Obasanjo would have felt when he attempted to visit the centre again for his routine medical checks only to learn that the facility was no more.”
Perez called for a probe into the circumstances surrounding the procurement of all the state-of-the-art medical equipment brought into the facility and the identities of the owner.
While noting that there have been stories on the circumstance surrounding the decision of the owners to move their equipment out of the facility over a collapsed deal with the state government, he called on Dickson to explain to Bayelsans the agreement signed with the owners of the equipment used at the Diagnostic centre.
The APC Integrity Group, led by Fred Ayabowei, has however exonerated Dickson from the collapse of the facility, declaring that the blame for the collapse of the Diagnostic centre is placed on Governor Douye Diri.
Ayabowei who in a statement said Bayelsa Diagnostic Center was included in the documents received by the party transition committee which also inspected the facility before the unfortunate Supreme Court judgement of 13th February 2020 said it is Diri that should explain its collapse.
The group also averred that “while the prosperity government led by Diri may wish to discredit the man that brought Diri into power, it should desist from using faceless APC members to attack perceived political enemies or hide the massive failure of leadership.”
The group insisted that Bayelsans are aware of the failure of the Diri-led government, which it described as the “most retrogressive government ever in the history of the state including the military rulers.”
