The Inter-Party Advisory Council has denounced the selection of an oil-rich Niger Delta native as Minister of State for Petroleum Resources.
On Thursday, Yabagi Sani, the national chairman of IPAC, referred to the appointment as a “wrong signal” during Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily breakfast program.
Sani claimed that confining the appointment to one state will instill an attitude of entitlement among Niger Delta residents.
“Unfortunately, this sector (the Niger Delta) has been portrayed as though Niger Delta residents should be assigned to that ministry. It sends the incorrect message because, once you give individuals a sense of entitlement, you stop paying attention to how effective they are.
I believe that scenario needs to be changed, but if he must, and not because I am a native of the North Central, why not award the Federal Capital Territory to a North Central resident? If you must make a splash about such a vital ministry.
He questioned, “What can we do to stop the theft of crude oil?” According to what we have learned so far, residents of that region are the ones who routinely steal crude oil.
Sani urged that the petroleum sector be investigated from a professional point of view and a point of view of national interest,” he stated.
The President has important and substantial obligations for the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, according to Sani, who said that if the ministry were given to the president, there may be persistent problems with accountability and effectiveness in preventing crude oil theft.
“If that’s what the president wants to do, I think the ministry is too essential for him to take on as additional duty for himself. The explanation is that the absence of appropriate management of that industry (the oil and gas sector) has led to the type of problems we have experienced in the economy as a whole.
“The president, who is already overly busy, is taking on the ministry and plans to run it himself. We may not get the outcome we want, I’m sure of it. The fastest possible elimination of corruption is what we seek in that sector, he said.
