Bayelsa has been cheated at federal level for years, says Diri

Douye Diri, governor of Bayelsa, says the state has been cheated at the federal level over the years.

The governor spoke on Wednesday in Yenagoa, the state capital, when he hosted Muheeba Dankaka, executive chairman of the Federal Character Commission (FCC).

Diri asked the agency to adopt stringent measures to ensure fair representation of the state at the federal level.

In a statement through Daniel Alabrah, the governor’s spokesperson, Diri said he noticed imbalances in federal placements when he was a member of the house of representatives.

The governor added that available vacancies at the federal level were hardly brought to the knowledge of the government and people of the state.

“It is only when we know of the vacancies that we can take advantage of the opportunities. If the imbalances affecting Bayelsa and a few other states are addressed, the agitations in some states will reduce significantly,” Diri said.

“The Federal Character Commission is inevitable in a heterogeneous society like ours. The commission can sort out a lot of the inequality and challenges we face because of our heterogeneous nature.

“It is a very good weapon in solving the issues of ethnicity and mutual suspicion among ethnic nationalities that make up Nigeria. I like to place on record that Bayelsa state is under-represented.

“Bayelsa is one of the states that has been cheated over the years and the inequality in relation to other states is so high that we request that your commission addresses this imbalance.”

Goodluck Jonathan, a former governor of Bayelsa state, was president of Nigeria from 2010 to 2015.