Bayelsa PDP urges governor to launch youth jobs scheme and social aid

Bayelsa State Peoples Democratic Party chairman George Turnah called on Governor Douye Diri to adopt urgent economic and social intervention measures to ease the worsening hardship in the state. Turnah proposed recruiting 20,000 youths into a Bayelsa Volunteer and Bayelsa Vigilante scheme with a monthly stipend of N150,000, estimating a cost of about N3 billion per month, which he said the state could afford.

He also urged the government to clear pension and gratuity arrears, restore student bursaries, subsidise healthcare, reduce transport costs and invest in a fleet of mass‑transit buses to lower commuting expenses and stimulate economic activity. Turnah stressed that poverty, unemployment and rising living costs should take priority over political projects and warned that the 2027 governorship election would be decided by the people’s welfare rather than rhetoric.