The Bayelsa Government has declined to disclose the cost of its second anniversary celebrations but pledged to make its expenditures public at a later date, amidst concerns that scarce public funds were being wasted to Commission uncompleted projects.

The Commissioner for Information, Orientation and Strategy, Mr Ayibaina Duba, while fielding questions from newsmen on the anniversary celebrations in Yenagoa, said that the government was one of transparency.

Activities marking the administration’s second year in office commenced on February 7 and ended on February 19, 2022.

The elaborate celebrations included the inauguration of a number of projects by invited state governors and groundbreaking ceremonies for others, including the Yenagoa-Oporoma road to connect Southern Ijaw LGA by road.

The Information Commissioner said the administration was committed to its policy of transparency and accountability, adding that the government does not have anything to hide from the people of the state.

“This is a forum to render accounts for November and December 2021. Why don’t you wait until we do the transparency briefing for the months of January and February 2022? That’s the proper thing to do.

“And you should understand that there is a committee that is in charge of the anniversary celebration. So, you wait. There is nothing to hide; this is not a briefing, we are giving a report on the anniversary,” Duba said.

Also speaking on the development, Timipre Seipulou, Technical Adviser to the Governor on Treasury, Accounts and Revenue, explained that the government has an established financial procedure for income and expenditure operations.

He said all monies spent on the anniversary events could not be given in the transparency briefing for the two previous months, stressing that the government would provide all financial details at the right time.

“We have financial processes in the state. If expenditures are not made, they are not presented. All expenditures that are being made during the anniversary, be sure that they are budgeted for.

“What is being spent at the time of the celebration cannot be extracted now. At the appropriate time, expenditures related to the anniversary will be presented,” he said.

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