Bayelsa SEEFOR applauded for accountability

The World Bank and European Union (EU)-assisted State Employment and Expenditure For Results (SEEFOR) project in Bayelsa State has been applauded for ensuring transparency, accountability in initiating and completing most of the projects.

It was adjudged the most transparent among other states in Nigeria.

So, far the Bayelsa SEEFOR has constructed 406 roads and empowered 17,665 residents across the eight councils since its inception in June 2013.

Speaking after a tour of completed and on-going projects across the state, the National Project Coordinator of SEEFOR, Dr. Greg Onu, commended the Bayelsa office for exceeding the target of the project in youth employment and public access to socio-economic services.

He said that with a target of 137 concrete roads to benefit schools, health facilities and markets, the Bayelsa SEEFOR constructed 406, which tripled the expectation of partners of the project.

For ensuring transparency and accountability, Dr. Onu appealed to the World Bank and EU to extend the SEEFOR programme in the state beyond the terminal date.

According to him, given the huge success of the programme in the state, there is a need for the World Bank to either extend it or create another window of similar collaboration with the state government, to continue the developmental agenda of the World Bank in the state.

Also speaking with newsmen after the tour, the project coordinator for Bayelsa, Mr. Ayens Adogu, explained that through its strategy of engaging youths in the area of public works, road maintenance, and sanitation, it had constructed over 70km of roads across the state.

He further said that through grants to Technical, Vocational Education and Agricultural Training (TVEAT), it also funded the procurement of equipment and renovated critical infrastructure to enhance learning through a School Improvement Plan (SIP), which he said increased school attendance rate of the state since its inception.

SEEFOR is also working on modalities to ensure that its partners, the World Bank and EU, adjust the salary structure of beneficiaries of the programme to conform to the Federal Government’s new wage, he noted.

Also to ensure the sustainability of the infrastructure constructed by SEEFOR, Adogu said at the end of the project, the relevant ministries of the state government would be engaged.