Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide has frowned at comments by Suleiman Kawu kicking against the nomination of Oluwole Adama as the executive director, Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund (MDGIF) Governing Council, by President Bola Tinubu.
The IYC also called on the immediate past executive director of the council, Mansur Kuliya Alkali, to stop parading himself as the holder of the position despite his removal by President Tinubu.
Secretary General of IYC worldwide, Maobuye Obu, in a statement in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, yesterday, wondered why Kawu opposed the president’s nomination.
Tinubu, in a recent letter to the Senate, had requested the lawmakers to confirm Adama as the new boss of MDGIF governing council.
But, when the letter was read by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, Kawu, from Kano, faulted Tinubu’s nomination.
The IYC scribe in the statement described the actions of Alkali and Kawu as an affront to the powers of the president, saying they were capable of instigating unrest within the critical sector.
The youth leader insisted the removal and appointment of any public office holder remained the prerogative of the president and within his constitutional powers.
He said the nomination of Adama had caused celebration across the petroleum sector because of his vast experience and knowledge.
He said Tinubu’s nomination of Adama, who hails from the Niger Delta, showed the president understood the issues of marginalization of the region in the oil and gas and was willing to address the imbalance
Obu said the simple reason Kawu was opposing the nomination was because he did not want anybody from the Niger Delta to hold such position.
He said: “It has come to our knowledge that a certain Mansur Kuliya Alkali is still parading himself as the MDGIF governing council executive director. This development is coming even when President Tinubu has made a fresh nomination into that office.
“We have also heard the agitation of Kawu kicking against the issue. These are all very misplaced actions and we condemn it as people of the Niger Delta.
“We call on security agencies to call Alkali to order. We also call on the Senate not to be intimidated but to confirm Adama as requested by the president and commander-in-chief. This new nomination will go a long way to assuage the feeling of people of the region.”