A member representing Sagbama-Ekeremor Federal Constituency, Hon Fred Agbedi, has promised to prioritise the development of oil communities in Bayelsa if elected governor.

Agbedi, one of the 21 aspirants jostling for the ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the September 3 primaries made the pledge while addressing the Federated Correspondents' Media Forum on Friday in Yenagoa the state capital.

The legislator said that he was favourably disposed to the establishment of an Oil Bearing Communities Development Commission (OBCDC) to warehouse funds for development of oil bearing areas.

He said that he will ensure the economic empowerment of Bayelsa entrepreneurs by patronising indigenous contractors and hence strengthening their capacity to compete with their peers at the national level.

“My administration will ensure that Bayelsa money is domiciled in Bayelsa, by patronising indigenous contractors and paying them for jobs done. We have a lot of competent and skilled people of Bayelsa in business, we must patronise them to help them grow.

“We will not want capital flight from Bayelsa so we want to groom a crop of entrepreneurs who will have the financial muscle to grow the economy of the state and partner with investors to harness the abundant natural endowments for the benefit of the people of Bayelsa,” Agbedi said.

On the issue of zoning amongst the three senatorial zones of the Bayelsa Central, West and East Senatorial Districts, Agbedi said that there is no such arrangement in the state.

“I am privileged to be one of the founding fathers of this state and from 1999; people from across the three senatorial districts have always aspired and contested. From the historical perspective, in 1999 the race was between Bayelsa Central and West.

“The primary for the 1999 was also contested by aspirants from the three zones. The shifts of power across the three zones have been natural and not by any deliberate zoning. I do believe in zoning but we have never had any in place in Bayelsa.

“I challenge anyone to a public debate on zoning in Bayelsa and in any case since power has moved round across the three zones and Bayelsa West currently holds it, we can take the first turn again since all the zones have tasted it,” Agbedi said.

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