Uneasy Calm Over ‘Scrapped’ Niger Delta Affairs Ministry

Uneasy calm reigned in the Niger Delta region yesterday, 24 hours after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu allocated portfolios to ministers-designate in his cabinet.

Predictably, the allocation of offices to members of the Federal Executive Council, with no one assigned to head the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, fuelled speculations that Tinubu had scrapped the ministry created to handle development initiatives in the oil-rich belt.

Ex-INEC Chair Jega To Lead Election Observation Mission In Zimbabwe

President Tinubu dissolves Ministry Of Niger Delta Affairs – Sources.

Although there was no official statement to suggest that the ministry had been rested, stakeholders in the region said the Presidency’s silence on the assignment of cabinet members lent credence to the speculations that the church had been delisted from the cabinet.

Groups want NDDC separated from N/Delta ministry -Legal Attorney Blog.

Also, findings by the news correspondent Friday in the Presidency revealed that Tinubu opted to do away with the ministry as it was considered not to be serving any valuable and strategic purposes given the existence of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

It was further gathered that the Presidency bought the idea that NDDC was already in existence to perform the roles envisaged by the advocates and promoters of the ministry.

Reliable sources within the Presidency said that Tinubu and his advisers were unconvinced about the arguments favouring sustaining a specific ministry to handle regional development challenges.

One of the sources said Tinubu and members of his inner circles were of the view that the initial decision to create the ministry was “thoughtless” as the NDDC and other statutory federal ministries, agencies and departments responsible for the development needs of different regions could also cater for the interests of the Niger Delta.

It was argued that the sustenance of the ministry could also fuel demand by other geopolitical zones, such as the troubled North East, for independent and specific churches to handle their development interests.

More importantly, Tinubu was irked that the ministry had not justified the objectives for its creation in the past 15 years.

Multiple sources in the  Presidency told this newspaper that the revelation that no project had neither been commissioned nor completed by the ministry since its establishment in 2008, except a cassava processing plant in Ondo State, practically convinced Tinubu that the church had not added value to the wellbeing of the inhabitants of the troubled oil-rich belt.

Findings revealed that Tinubu and his inner circle members considered the ministry a” cesspit of corruption.” Reports made available to the President about the church amply showed that its successive ministers fed fat with the funds of NDDC.

Apart from its lacklustre performance, the Presidency considered the ministry a duplication and usurpation of the roles of NDDC in the scheme of things in the region.

Consequently, the argument that the two primary oversight duties of the ministry – supervision of the construction of the long-abandoned East/West Road and management of NDDC – could be transferred to relevant federal ministries secured the blessing of the President.

Subsequently, the East/West Road was resolved to be transferred to the Federal Ministry of Works for re-evaluation and speedy completion. NDDC must be strengthened and adequately funded to meet the region’s development exigencies under the Presidency’s supervision.

Similarly, it was resolved that other development initiatives of the Niger Delta region could be handled by other statutory ministries, as in the case of the five different geopolitical zones of the country.

The Ministry of Niger Delta was created by the late President Umaru Yar’Adua on September 10, 2008, to “focus on infrastructural development, environmental protection and empowerment of youths in the oil-rich Niger Delta region.”

Some stakeholders in the region, who spoke with the media, opted to await an official pronouncement on the fate of the ministry before their formal reaction to the development.

A famous Niger Delta activist, Comrade Joseph Ambakederimo, challenged the President to disclose the ministry’s fate fully.

Ambakederimo, the national coordinator of the South-South Reawakening Group (SSRG), said the people of the region deserved an explanation from the President on the issue.

“We demand explanations and full disclosure from President Tinubu on the controversies surrounding the purported scrapping of the Ministry of Niger Affairs. Mr President cannot just wake up to scrap the ministry in a clandestine operation. We have to know why he took action and his alternative plans for the development of our region, Ambakederimo said in a telephone interview.

Meanwhile, it was further learnt that the presidential directive on the transfer of NDDC to the Presidency has generated a frosty relationship between the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, and the Chief of Staff (CoS) to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila.

Akume and Gbajabiamila are said to be at each other’s throats over whose office would control and supervise the development agency in the Presidency.

NDDC was under the supervision of the SGF before it was moved to the ministry by former President Mohammadu Buhari in 2019.

A source, who hinted at the acrimony between Akume and Gbajabiamila over the management of NDDC within the Presidency, said, “Even before NDDC lands in the Presidency, the SGF (Akume) and CoS to the President (Gbajabiamila) are already at war over whose office would manage the commission within the Presidency.

“The war between the two top officials of the Presidency is intense and severe. Two of them are mustering their contacts to prevail on and get the nod of Mr President to be in charge of the agency, which is regarded as a cash cow and a veritable platform for self-enrichment.

“Ordinarily, the agency should have moved without let or hindrance to the office of SGF because that was where it was before it was taken to the ministry by former President Mohammadu Buhari in 2019, but the interest of the all-powerful CoS (Gbajabiamila) has altered the permutations. Gbajabiamila, the head of the new cabal in the villa, is interested in having everything under his control. With his closeness to Mr President, he always has his way.”

However, the special adviser on media and publicity to the President, Mr Ajuri Ngelale, said the government was in the process of taking shape and cautioned against speculation.

“Federal administration is an evolving concern. I think we should allow the government to fully form following the swearing-in of the ministers before we run to any conclusions about the future of any particular ministry or parastatal. I have not been briefed about any purported movement or placement of agencies.

“We should not seek to create false impressions of rivalry or conflict within government. Media should rightly report on real developments. It can afford to avoid the temptation of manufacturing angles to report on,” he said.