By Iheanacho Nwosu, Abuja
A Niger Delta based group, Niger Delta Association for Peace and Unity (NDAPU) has asked the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo to relieve the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Pastor Uguru Usani of his position.
It alleged that the Minister has become a problem instead of a solution to the challenges confronting the Niger Delta region. Specifically , the group claimed that Usani had become insufferable to the staff and officials of the ministry and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
NDAPU in an open letter to Osinbajo dated July 25, 2017 and signed by Comrade Godswill Pakribo (Chairman) and Jonas Opubo (Secretary) implored the Acting President to quickly save the region from further degeneration by sacking the Minister and replacing him with somebody who would be ready to work for the growth of the region.
A call to the Minister by Saturday Sun on the matter was not answered. Similarly, a call and a text message to the Director of Press of the ministry, Mr Marshall Gundu were not replied also . The text message which was sent at 3:52pm by the reporter to Marshal reads “ Good afternoon Mr Marshall , my name is Iheanacho Nwosu, Bureau Chief, Nation’s Capital, Sun Newspapers. I called to get your reaction to a petition against the Honourable Minister by a group from the Niger Delta, accusing him of high handedness in his dealing with NDDC and Ministry staff and executives”
Justifying its demand for the removal of the minister , the group alleged that Usani was mismanaging his ministerial portfolio and indulging in actions capable of frustrating the smooth running of government business.
The petition reads in part “With all due respect, this minister has displayed gross incapacity to work with others. It is on record that since he was appointed as Minister of Niger Delta barely two years ago, the ministry has witnessed an unprecedented turnover at the top echelon of its personnel. At least, three Permanent Secretaries who were appointed to work with him ,left in quick succession due largely to his high-handedness.
“It is either he does not know the job of a minister or he has deliberately been working towards an agenda of making himself a Sole Administrator”.
The group further claimed that the minister has become a thorn in the flesh of the new management of the NDDC as he had been issuing queries randomly to members of the executive board and other officials of the agency.
The petitioners wrote “We believe that the NDDC is an agency under the Presidency whose day to day running rests with the Managing Director and the Executive Directors. It is also a fact that the management is answerable to the board of the NDDC which is also appointed by the President. It is however, baffling that the current minister does not seem to realise these facts in order to respect the boundaries.