Former President of Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) and Labour Party (LP) governorship candidate for the November 11 Bayelsa Governorship election, Udengs Eradiri, has blamed the underdevelopment of the state on incompetent leadership.

Eradiri, who restated his commitment to job creation and development of the state, claimed the state was going though challenges created by past leaders.

Eradiri, a one-time President of IYC and former Commissioner in the state’s Ministry of Environment and Youths Development, spoke at a media briefing in Yenagoa, the state capital.

He said: “We lack competent leadership in Bayelsa State. If you compare Bayelsa State with other states in the country, you will discover we are backward in every indices and yet we are supposed to be the richest state in terms of allocation accruing to us, we have had trillions of naira over the years, yet nothing on ground to show for it.”

He also took a swipe at Governor Douye Diri’s administration for allegedly abandoning existing structures and building new ones in the health and educational sectors of the state, describing it as worrisome.