Group Faults Yabagi Sani For Criticising Appointment Of Petroleum Minister From Niger Delta

By Peters Monday, Abuja

The Centre for Human Rights and Anti-Corruption Crusade (CHURAC) has faulted the divisive and provocative comment made by the National Chairman of the Interparty Adversary Committee (IPAC), Mr. Yabagi Sani about the appointment of Minister of State for Petroleum from the Niger Delta region.

This is according to a statement by Cleric Ebikonbowei Alaowei, Esq, the CHURAC’s Chairman Board of Trustees which a copy was sent to Congress news correspondent on Saturday.

According to the legal practitioner, the statement accredited to the National Chairman of Interparty Adversary Committee (IPAC), Mr. Yabagi Sani about the appointment of Minister of State for Petroleum from the Niger Delta is condemnable, adding that such divisive statement would only helped to divide Nigerians more rather than uniting the country.

The rights advocate said the IPAC Chairman was quick to raise dust about the appointment of Niger Delta people as junior Petroleum Ministers consecutively from Jonathan government up to this present Government, emphasising that Sani never condemned the Northern region for occupying the petroleum ministry all through the military era, except Dan Etete who was appointed for few months under Gen. Ibrahim Babangida’s diachical government, despite there was no drop of oil from the north.

The statement reads, “Mr. Sani should also raise dust about how the northern region monopolized the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) and the Ministry of Defence. When former President Goodluck Jonathan tried to break this monopoly by appointing a Niger Delta man in the person of Gen. Owoye Azazi, rtd as the NSA, we all knew the pressure the northerners amounted on him, making the former President to reluctantly remove the late Gen. Azazi as the NSA.

“Since the creation of the EFCC, only northerners are occupying the office of the chairman as if it’s their birth right. Yabagi Sani will not see anything wrong in all these because some persons are more Nigerians than the others. This born-to-rule attribute displayed by some persons in the Country will not help us. Of course the IPAC Chairman will not say anything as the Chief of Defence Staff and the NSA are from the same Geo political zone. Same way he lost his voice when former President Buhari appointed nearly all the top security personnel from the northern region under his Government.

“When former President Olusegun Obasanjo refused to appoint Petroleum Minister in his first term, the same Niger Delta people used every legal means to fight him. The likes of Akpo Mudiaga Odje took up the gauntlet to fight OBJ into submission. Then nobody talk because it was a Niger Delta affairs alone.

“Rather than condemning President Tinubu for appointing another Niger Delta person as Petroleum Minister in the person of Sen. Heineken Lokpobiri, we implore Yabagi Sani to appreciate the President for this laudable objective. The President who knew the righ thing to do only put a square peg into a square hole by appointing someone from the oil producing areas as a junior Petroleum Minister.

“The appointment of petroleum ministers consecutively from one State or region will not make anybody to claim ownership of the ministry. Only people who feel they’re more Nigerians than the others can lay claim to exclusive ownership of government offices. Yabagi should advise Mr. President to appoint a non northerner as the next EFCC chairman and subsequently as NSA, given the fact that a neutral mind is needed to combat the growing insecurity in the northern part of the Country”, he said.