By Seyi Babalola
President Bola Tinubu has approved the redeployment of Engr. Abubakar Momoh from the Federal Ministry of Youth to the Federal Ministry of Niger Delta Development.
Special Adviser to the President (Media & Publicity), Mr. Ajuri Ngelale, disclosed this in a statement.
The Federal Ministry of Youth is to be re-assigned to a Minister-designate soon.
The Ministers-designate allocated to the Federal Ministries of Transportation, Interior, and Marine & Blue Economy have been reshuffled as follows:
(A) H.E. Adegboyega Oyetola is redeployed as the Honourable Minister of Marine & Blue Economy
(B) Hon. Bunmi Tunji-Ojo is redeployed as the Honourable Minister of Interior
(C) Hon. Sa’idu Alkali is redeployed as the Honourable Minister 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:
(i) Sen. Heineken Lokpobiri is the Hon. Minister of State (Oil), Petroleum Resources
(ii) Hon. Ekperipe Ekpo is the Hon. Minister of State (Gas), Petroleum Resources
The President approves 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, Ngelale said.
It will be recalled that a group of Niger Delta elders led by Clark, had written to the President telling him of the dangers of scrapping the Niger Delta ministry.
A sister publication, metrowatchxtra.com, had reported: “The Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) has asked President Bola Tinubu to urgently address the omission of a minister of Niger Delta affairs in his cabinet.
“President Bola Tinubu had assigned portfolios to minister-designates, some days after they were confirmed by the senate. But the president omitted the Niger Delta affairs ministry from the list.
“However, PANDEF in a communique issued at the end of the meeting of its board of trustees (BoT) and national executive committee (NEC) on Friday, expressed “great surprise” that no portfolio was designated to the existing ministry of Niger Delta affairs.
“The communique was jointly signed by Edwin Clark, PANDEF convener, and Emmanuel Essien, national chairman of the forum.”
