Former President Goodluck Jonathan has condemned the abandonment of projects by governors.
Speaking on Wednesday at the inauguration of a hotel in Yenagoa, Jonathan accused governors of ignoring projects by their predecessors.
He lamented the abandonment of key projects he had initiated as Governor of Bayelsa State, blaming successive administrations for failing to sustain his development agenda.
According to Jonathan, he had begun several hotel projects to attract tourism and investment to the state before he became Vice President in 2007.
He noted that those projects were left unattended after he left office, describing the trend as a major source of waste in governance.
“When a governor leaves office, the next governor doesn’t want to follow up, and most of the money spent goes to waste,” Jonathan said
The former president recalled that his administration had invested in the hospitality sector to make Yenagoa more appealing to visitors, especially during the Africa Movie Academy Awards, which Bayelsa hosted at the time.
“During the first AMAA event, most of the international guests stayed in Port Harcourt because Bayelsa had no suitable hotels.
“So we supported local hoteliers with loans of ₦10m to ₦15m to upgrade their facilities, but after I left office, nobody refunded the money, and the initiative died,” he said.
He added that his government had also awarded contracts for the construction of three major hotels, including the Tower Hotel and two three-star facilities, which were never completed.
“If they had done these three hotels, by now visitors coming to Bayelsa State would have had comfortable places to stay, but somehow when I left, even people I mobilised, we didn’t see what they have done.
“That is the problem of government, when a governor leaves, the next governor doesn’t want to follow up, most of those money spent will go,” he said.
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