Stakeholders from the Niger Delta region have appealed to President Bola Tinubu to appoint an indigene of the area as his minister of Niger Delta Affairs.

Frank Oyosongo and Godwin Edikan, chair and secretary of the Movement for the Protection of Oil-Producing Communities in Niger Delta, made the appeal on Sunday in Yenagoa.

In a joint signed statement, the stakeholders said an individual from the oil-producing areas understands the plight of the people and would be in the best position to advise the president.

They noted that the Niger Delta affairs ministry was more about political expediency and required someone from the area.

According to the stakeholders, by the Nigerian constitution, every state is entitled to produce a minister, and the president has fulfilled that requirement.

They argued that experts and a minister in the relevant field would man each ministry.

“The Ministry of Justice will always be manned by a lawyer. The Ministry of the Niger Delta Affairs is more about political expediency and requires someone from an oil-producing area within the Niger Delta region,” they said.

They urged the president to “put square pegs in square holes” when allocating portfolios to his team of ministers.

“This is one of those responsibilities he must discharge to the satisfaction of well-meaning Nigerians and to the people of the Niger Delta region in particular,” the group added. 

(NAN)