By Sampson Boroh
Traditional rulers from Ekeremor Local Government of Bayelsa State on Wednesday accused the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timpre Sylva, of alleged lopsided appointments into federal agencies and parastatals coming to the state.
The monarchs drawn from oil producing communities in the state specially accused, Sylva, a former Bayelsa governor, of reportedly ceding every appointment coming to the state to his kinsmen.
They said in view of the lopsidedness, President Muhammadu Buhari should appoint the chairman or managing director of the soon-to-be inaugurated Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to other areas especially Ekeremor LGA which produced vast portion of the oil revenue from the state.
The monarchs’ allegation was contained in a protest letter signed by HRH Perekebina Alfred, the Paramount Ruler of Koromotoru kingdom; Chief Alexander Daunemighan, paramount ruler of Peretorugbene federated communities and seven other traditional rulers in Ekeremor
ALSO READ: CAN Reacts To Prophet TB Joshua’s Death, Writes Family
It said though Ekeremor has more oil wells than Nembe, the Minister had overlooked them for his own kith and kin thereby denying others zones in the state from benefitting from federal appointments to the state.
The traditional rulers urged the Minister to throw his wight behind and support their son from Ekeremor, Denyanbofa Dimaro, for the position of Managing Director of NDDC to resolve the anomalies created by him.
They said Dimaro, who is a staunch All Progressive Congress (APC) chieftain have been tested and trusted and his emergence as MD of NDDC will open the doors for more people to join the party and secured victory for the party in the next coming elections.
According to them, Sylva, having taken up the Minister of State for Petroleum, controls the Nigerian Content Monitoring and Development Board (NCDMB), the Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas with his kinsmen Simbi Wabote and Chief Edmund Daukoru, as Executive Secretary and Chairman respectively, it will be logical if he supports their own son to balance the equation.
“It clearly shows that the Bayelsa West, comprising Ekeremor and Sagbama local government areas are unfairly treated. The Ekeremor LGA is a major oil and gas producing areas, besides it also proved substantial votes for the APC in the 2015 and 2019 general elections that gave APC victory at the polls.
“We are therefore pleading with Mr. President to consider giving the appointment of the substantive Managing Director of the NDDC to Smyrna form the within the above mention communities in the Ekeremor local government area of Bayelsa state, as particularly as already be announced in the media.
“In our opinion, the polity and the region are already over heated and anything that will bring about further agitations should be avoided.”
YOU MAY ALSO READ: ‘Why CAN, PFN Won’t Mourn Prophet TB Joshua’s Death’
In a related development, another civil right group, the Niger Delta Oil and Gas Producing Communities, (NDOGPC) also accused Tmipre Sylva, for the seeming delay in constitution of the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission, (NDDC), they said.
In a statement by the group’s National Coordinator, Chief Preye Olomu, they stated that Sylva’s interest of nominating an inexperienced young Maxwell Okoh, a candidate from his own Bayelsa East District which has enjoyed majority of the federal appointments already is causing disaffection and uproar from people of the Bayelsa West District.
Chief Olomu while commending the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio for his choice of an Ekeremor son from Peretorugbene, Senator Denyanbofa Dimaro to be the Managing Director for the forthcoming board, hinted that Sylva has single handedly without consultations nominated other federal appointees without ceding any to the Bayelsa West District.
