IPAC Chides Tinubu for Giving N’Delta State Petroleum Ministry

Chuks Okocha in Abuja

The National Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Yabagi Sani, yesterday, said assigning a Minister of State for Petroleum Resources to the oil-rich Niger Delta area was a ‘wrong signal’.

Sani, who spoke on a television programme monitored in Abuja, stated that limiting the appointment to a particular state would trigger a sense of entitlement amongst the people of the Niger Delta.

Commenting on the portfolios of the minister designates, the IPAC chair said, “Unfortunately, this sector (Niger Delta) has been made to look as if people that should be appointed to that ministry should come from Niger Delta.

“It is a wrong signal because, when you now give people a sense of entitlement, their efficiency becomes something that is not given due attention to.
“I think we must change that scenario, but if he must do that – not because I am from the North Central – why don’t you give Federal Capital Territory to an indigene of North Central, if you must be sensational about such very important ministry.

“What do we do about fighting crude oil theft? Crude oil theft endemically is perpetrated – from what we heard so far is from the people from that area.”
Sani suggested that the petroleum sector should be looked into from a professional point of view and national interest, adding that, the responsibilities of the president were weighty and critical for the Ministry of Petroleum.

He, therefore, lamented that if the ministry was reserved to the president, there could be issues lingering on accountability and efficiency in fighting crude oil theft.