Ten days after taking his oath of office, Bayelsa State governor, Hon.  Seriake Dickson commenced measures to stem what he described as ‘needless wastages’ in the state’s fiscal plans for the year 2012, saying the present economic realities did not allow for such.

In effect, Dickson disclosed that a drastic cut in this year’s budgetary allocation to the Government House has saved the state an excess of N1 billion.

This development is coming as unconfirmed reports had it that the governor had already made moves to withdraw the 2012 budget earlier proposed by his predecessor, Timipre Sylva.

Hon. Dickson who stated this during the swearing-in ceremony of the Secretary to the State Government, Professor Edmund Allison-Oguru and five special advisers at the Government House, Yenagoa explained that the savings was made out of the monthly allocation to the Government House alone and would be ploughed back into very critical sectors of the state.

Dickson who said he had ordered a reduction in the cost of governance, charged the new SSG, and the special advisers to brace up for thechallenges ahead towards making the restoration agenda a reality.

“It will no longer be business as usual as tough and challenging tasks lie ahead of all us. As I am talking to you today, we have saved the sum of N1 billion from the over bloated Government House allocation.

“We are still looking for other areas to mop up in order to save needless wastages in the state, but as it stands, we are going to ensure that the excess recovered is committed to other critical areas in need of attention and that is where our sacrifices will play a role”, he said.

Although it could not also be confirmed if the N1billion was gotten from adjustments made in the wake of the contentious budget inherited by Dickson, his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Daniel Iworiso-Markson however, said details of the government’s income and expenditure profile under Dickson would not be ‘secretive, and suspicious’.

“The truth is that the governor has a responsibility to deliver on his promises to the people of the state; to do this effectively means that sacrifices have to be made as the governor rightly pointed out. As far as this governor is concerned, his mandate is drawn from the people.

“Hence there is nothing to be hidden from the people of the state, including details of how the resources of the state will be managed,” Markson said.

The five special advisers sworn in by the governor alongside the SSG included Hon Fredrick Agbedi (political matters),   Mrs. Ruby Benjamin (women mobilisation), Mr. Stephen Diver (inter party relations), Chief T. K. Ogoriba (youth empowerment, training and rehabilitation) and Lt. Col. Bernard Sunday Kenibai(rtd) –security matters.