Address hunger, unemployment instead of N100bn Bayelsa stadium project, PDP tells Diri

…Laments neglect of Samson Siasia stadium

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has called on Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri to address widespread hunger, unemployment, poverty, poor healthcare, weak educational outcomes, and a struggling economy.

The party made the call in view of the attention the State Government is giving to the ongoing stadium project at Igbogene, Yenagoa, describing it as a misplaced priority due to the present economic realities.

The project valued at about N100 billion is expected to generate employment for the youth and make Bayelsa State a destination for football and other sporting activities in Nigeria.

Site clearing of the stadium project began in August 2024 before the groundbreaking was performed by former President Goodluck Jonathan on February 17, 2025 when Governor Diri was still in the PDP.

Governor Diri formally left PDP for the All Progressives Congress (APC) on November 3, 2025, nine months after the stadium project started.

But, PDP in a statement by Ikaebimo Mark, the State Publicity Secretary, expressed shock that the State Government had prioritised the project rather than tackling hunger, unemployment and healthcare, among others.

The party expressed surprise that a state grappling with widespread hunger, unemployment, poverty, poor healthcare, weak educational outcomes, and a struggling economy would commit over N100 billion to a stadium project at the expense of investments.

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While recognising the importance of sports development and the place of sports infrastructure in the development of any modern society, the party said it is not convinced that the stadium project is worth pursuing at the expense of several graduates without jobs, residents who cannot afford one meal a day and lack access to potable water.

PDP also criticised the State Government for investing such huge funds in the stadium project while the agricultural sector has been starved of funds and several small businesses are collapsing under harsh economic conditions.

It further dismissed the justification for the construction of the stadium by the Governor Douye Diri government as a form of empowerment for the youth, stressing that youth empowerment involved improving their living conditions across the State.

The statement read: “The PDP believes that the greatest infrastructure any government can build is the economic well-being of its people. Youth empowerment is not measured by the size of a stadium but by the number of young people gainfully employed, the number of thriving small businesses, the number of skilled entrepreneurs created, the volume of investments attracted, and the opportunities available for young people to build productive and prosperous lives.”

The party lamented the neglect of the existing Samson Siasia Stadium, which has served the State for years, raising serious questions about the Government’s claim that sports is its principal vehicle for youth empowerment.

It challenged the State Government to make public the number of youths it had empowered for the past six years through sports and the full details of the funding for the stadium project.

“If sports truly constitutes the government’s strategy for empowering young people, why has the state’s flagship stadium not been transformed into a vibrant hub for talent discovery, sports tourism, grassroots development, and sports-based enterprise?

“We challenge the administration to make public, full disclosure of names and particulars of Bayelsa youths this administration has empowered in the last six years, using the Sampson Siasia stadium in Yenagoa.

“Bayelsans deserve to know the economic justification for multiple stadium projects at a time when the state urgently requires industrial parks, agro-processing centres, technology hubs, vocational training institutes, manufacturing clusters, and investment corridors capable of generating sustainable employment and wealth.

“The PDP therefore calls on the Bayelsa State Government to immediately publish the full details of the stadium project, including its procurement process, contract value, funding arrangements, project scope, implementation timeline, and expected economic returns. Bayelsans deserve complete transparency regarding a project of such enormous financial magnitude,” the statement said.

The party called the state government to immediately declare a State Economic Recovery, Wealth Creation, Employment Generation, and Food Security Initiative to confront the worsening hardship across the State.

It implored the government to rise to its responsibility and invest in industries, agriculture, skills development, innovation, entrepreneurship, and private-sector growth if it truly desired to empower the youth.

The Bayelsa State Government is yet to respond to this latest attack by the opposition PDP.