Ahead of the scheduled Monday, August 21, 2023 swearing-in of Ministers, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Sunday approved the redeployment of Mr. Abubakar Momoh from the Federal Ministry of Youth to the Federal Ministry of Niger Delta Development.
Some youth organisations had last week protested the appointment of 60 years Abubakar as Minister of Youth Development, saying it was a slap on the faces of Nigerian youths.
Similarly, the Ministers-designates allocated to the Federal Ministries of Transportation, Interior, and Marine & Blue Economy have been reshuffled as follows:
The minor reshuffle carried out by the President showed that the former governor of Osun State, Mr. Adegboyega Oyetola has been moved to the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy as Minister while Hon. Bunmi Tunji-Ojo has been moved to the Ministry of Interior as Minister.
The reshuffling also witnessed Hon. Sa’idu Alkali being redeployed to the Ministry of Transportation as Minister
A statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale said the President has also approved that the duo of the Ministers of State in the Oil & Gas sector are now to be domiciled in the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources with Senator Heineken Lokpobiri as Minister of State (Oil), Petroleum Resources while Hon. Ekperipe Ekpo will serve as Minister of State (Gas), Petroleum Resources.
Ngelale also said President Tinubu equally approved the renaming of the Federal Ministry of Environment and Ecological Management as the Federal Ministry of Environment.
The presidential spokesman also said the Federal Ministry of Youth will be reassigned to a Minister-designate soon, adding that all the aforementioned changes take immediate effect.
There were mixed reactions in the public space when the President omitted the Niger Delta Ministry from the list of ministries officially announced last week with the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) vowing to resist any move to cancel the Ministry.
Cautioning President Bola Tinubu against scrapping the Niger Delta Ministry, PANDEF had expressed displeasure at the failure to name a Minister for the Ministry following the assignment of portfolios to ministerial designates.
In a communique issued after an emergency meeting of its National Executive and Board of Trustees held at the Abuja residence of its national leader, Chief Edwin Clark, the Forum reminded Mr President that the Ministry of Niger Delta was created, specifically, to “focus on infrastructural development, environmental protection and empowerment of youths in the oil-rich Niger Delta region”, which continues to be greatly impacted by the oil and gas industry and remains the live-wire of the national economy.
It further noted that the Ministry, created by President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua in 2008, was sustained under his two immediate predecessors, Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari to help advance the course of the peace in the Niger Delta region.
Signed by Chief Clark and PANDEF’s National Chairman, Emmanuel Essien, the communique cautioned that any misguided step towards scrapping or submerging the Ministry will create an unfavourable environment with adverse consequences.
It cautions the federal government to desist from tampering with any institution(s), which along with the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, have been flagship institution(s), to ensure peace and development in the Niger Delta region.
“We are hopeful that the federal government will be properly advised on this matter, even as we reiterate the commitment of the leadership of PANDEF and the people of the region to enduring the reign of peace and stability in the overall interest of the country,” the communique added.
Meanwhile, all the new ministers are to be sworn in today, Monday, August 21, 2023, at the presidential villa in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
