By Rita Enemuru, Reporting
GOVERNOR of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri, has insisted that the state’s independent power project is firmly on course, pushing back against suggestions that it has failed.
The 60-megawatt gas-fired turbine plant, installed by the Diri administration to deliver round-the-clock electricity across the state, was among the projects commissioned on April 10, 2026, by President Bola Tinubu.
However, the Governor explained that the plant is currently undergoing final finishing touches, which require the installation of critical protective devices to safeguard both the project and the state’s investment in the power sector.
In a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Alabrah, Governor Diri provided the clarification on Thursday during the weekly prosperity walk held at the Samson Siasia Sports Complex in Yenagoa. He appealed to residents of the state to exercise patience.
While assuring that the process would be completed shortly, Senator Diri criticised those who had chosen to play politics with the power project.
“We know that the people of Bayelsa will never forget the gas turbine project, but some of our people are talking about time and darkness. There is nothing like darkness. Those who want to play politics can do so, but we will do what we know is right for our state and our people,” he said.
“As a government, we want our people to be free from darkness. So, whatever you are seeing are the final finishing touches. After the commissioning, certain protective devices must be placed on the turbines so that when they start operation, they will not be affected.
“Immediately the protective devices are fully installed, the turbines will come on, to the shame of those who want darkness – as they didn’t want the turbines at all. From the beginning, they said we would fail. Now we have surprised them, and they are not happy.”
Governor Diri also took aim at those he described as “political fathers” who do not wish to see their political sons grow.
He argued that only bad fathers behave in such a manner, and urged political leaders to exercise restraint in their actions and comments, warning that such behaviour sends the wrong signals to their followers.
According to the Bayelsa helmsman, political fathers ought to pray for their successors to perform better than them, as that is the wish of any good father for his children.
“A good father prays for his child to succeed more than him. So every political father should pray for his successors to do better than him. A father who prays for his son not to do better than him is a bad father,” he said.
The Governor further disclosed that the immediate past Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, would visit the state on Monday, April 20, 2026, to inaugurate the Oxbow Lake-Agbura Road.
He noted that the former Vice President, who performed the groundbreaking ceremony for the Angiama-Oporoma Bridge, would visit the project following its commissioning by President Tinubu.
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