President Bola Tinubu made an eleventh-hour adjustment to the portfolios unveiled last week Wednesday.
In response to the discontent expressed by various stakeholders due to the absence of a designated minister for the Niger Delta region, casting uncertainty on the ministry’s fate, President Tinubu has appointed Engr. Abubakar Momoh, from Edo State, as Minister of Niger Delta Development. This decision was communicated through an official statement issued by his spokesperson, Ajuri Ngelale.
Momoh was initially appointed to head the Ministry of Youth. His redeployment is part of a broader series of modifications that the president unveiled. President Tinubu disclosed that a new Minister of Youth would be appointed soon.
The president also changed some portfolios, these include: Adegboyega Oyetola assuming the role of Minister of Marine & Blue Economy, Bunmi Tunji-Ojo taking over as Minister of Interior, and Sa’idu Alkali being moved to Ministry of Transportation.
“Furthermore, both Ministers of State in the Oil & Gas sector are now domiciled in the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources with the following designations: Senator Heineken Lokpobiri is the Minister of State (Oil), Petroleum Resources, and Ekperipe Ekpo is the Minister of State (Gas), Petroleum Resources.”
The President also approved the renaming of the Federal Ministry of Environment and Ecological Management as the Federal Ministry of Environment.
“All aforementioned changes take immediate effect by these directives of the President,” the statement read.
Leaders of the Niger Delta region had at the weekend rejected the scraping of the Ministry. The leaders hosted by an elder stateman and foremost leader of the region, Chief Edwin Clark, under the aegis of Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) described the action as “misguided” and an invitation to anarchy. They asked the president to reverse himself by preserving and sustaining the ministry under his administration.
While emphasising the compelling need to urgently correct the anomaly, they warned that the action would create “unfavorable environment with adverse consequences.”
