Bayelsa State Governor, Mr Seriake Dickson, has cited a 45 per cent drop in the state’s revenue as part of the challenges confronting the Bayelsa Scholarship Scheme. Mr Dickson noted this while responding to the controversy surrounding the state’s scholarship scheme, particularly for beneficiaries in the United Kingdom.

He also lamented the high number of applicants, which has led the state to overshoot its N1 billion to about N7 billion.

Channels Television brought this issue to the fore in March following investigations by correspondents in the UK and Bayelsa state, who followed up agitation by students claiming to have been abandoned abroad by their state government.

Mr Dickson, in a meeting convened in London to soothe the tensions between the state scholarship board and students, however assured that funds will be released speedily to clear backlogs and create a consistent stream of stipends.

Mr Dickson had in March said revenue accruing to the state from the Federal Government has reduced by N5bn.

The governor, who made this revelation while signing the state’s 2014 Appropriation Bill of N332 billion into law in March, called for the expansion of the revenue base of the state.

The governor said “from when I started till now, our monthly revenue has dropped by over N5bn. So, if we are not careful to build alternative revenue sources, we will get to a situation where the federal revenue will not be enough to enable us meet our minimum obligation as a state, particularly bearing in mind the very high wage bill that is higher than that of any other state in this country.”

He blamed the recent economic downturn for the development, which he said had affected the Federation Account.