Bayelsa PDP faults 15% 2026 budget score, questions Diri's ₦1.24tn 2027 plan
- Bayelsa PDP says the 2026 budget has performed at only about 15 per cent, calling it weak implementation.
- The party questions Governor Douye Diri's proposed ₦1.24 trillion 2027 budget, saying it lacks clear plans on poverty and jobs.
- The state government points to a BudgIT ranking that placed Bayelsa third on fiscal discipline among 35 states.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Bayelsa State has criticised what it calls the roughly 15 per cent performance of the state's 2026 budget, and questioned whether Governor Douye Diri's proposed ₦1.24 trillion budget for 2027 can be delivered.
In a statement signed by its state publicity secretary, Ikaebimo Mark, the party said the low implementation of this year's budget shows public money is not reaching ordinary residents.
"A budget's true measure is not the amount appropriated, but the positive difference it makes in the lives of the people," Mark said in the statement.
The PDP said many households in the state are still battling multidimensional poverty, rising living costs, unemployment and poor access to basic services. It argued that the 2026 spending plan has not yet changed living conditions for most Bayelsans.
What the party wants from lawmakers
Governor Diri presented the 2027 Appropriation Bill, which he titled the "Budget of Assured Prosperity for Sustainable Growth and Development", to the Bayelsa State House of Assembly on Tuesday. According to ThisDay, the proposal is based on projected revenue of about ₦1.242 trillion.
The PDP said the headline figure is impressive but offers little clarity on practical steps to tackle poverty, hunger and unemployment. It said residents need reliable electricity, working healthcare, affordable education, food security and jobs more than large budget numbers.
The party urged the House of Assembly not to treat the budget as a document for automatic approval. Lawmakers, it said, should interrogate the assumptions, examine the allocations and demand clear implementation targets.
The state government has pushed back with its own scorecard. According to ThisDay, the Technical Adviser to the Governor on Treasury, Accounts and Revenue, Timipre Seipulou, told the State Executive Council in Yenagoa on Wednesday that Bayelsa was ranked third on fiscal discipline and financial viability among 35 states in BudgIT's newly released State of States Report. BudgIT is an independent organisation that assesses how states manage revenue, debt and budgets.
The sources differ on when the PDP statement was issued. Some outlets reported it on Wednesday, while Punch said it was issued on Friday. The party's core complaints were the same across the reports.
What happens next
The 2027 budget now sits with the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, which must scrutinise and pass it. How lawmakers handle the PDP's call for deeper checks, and whether the government publishes clear implementation targets, will shape what residents actually see from the spending plan.
