Television Nigerian

The selection of a Minister of State for Petroleum Resources from the oil-rich Niger Delta region has drawn criticism from the Inter-Party Advisory Council.

Yabagi Sani, the National Chairman of IPAC, called the appointment a “wrong signal” on Thursday during Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily breakfast program.

According to Sani, confining the appointment to a specific state will encourage a sense of entitlement among Niger Delta residents.

“Unfortunately, the Niger Delta has been used to make it appear that Niger Delta residents should be chosen to that ministry. It sends the wrong message because when you give people a sense of entitlement, their productivity is no longer valued as highly.

“I believe we need to modify that circumstance, but if he must, why not award a North Central native the Federal Capital Territory? This is not because I am from the region. If you must make a big deal out of such a crucial ministry.

What can we do to stop the theft of crude oil? he questioned. According to what we have heard so far, persons from that region are responsible for the systematic theft of crude oil.
Sani recommended that the petroleum industry be examined from a professional and a national interest perspective,” he stated.

According to Sani, the President’s duties for the Ministry of Petroleum Resources are significant and crucial. She noted that if the ministry were given sole authority to the president, there might be lingering concerns about accountability and the effectiveness of the government’s efforts to combat crude oil theft.

“If that is the president’s objective, I think that ministry is too essential for him to take on as additional job. The reason is that due to improper management of that industry (the oil and gas sector), we have had the type of setbacks we have in the economy as a whole.

“The president, who is already extremely busy, is taking over the ministry and will be in charge of it personally. We might not get the outcome we were hoping for, I’m sure. The elimination of corruption from that sector as rapidly as possible is what we seek, he said.

The Nigerian Air Force declared on Wednesday that it would reject the propaganda spread by terrorists aboard the crashed plane.

The response came in response to a video that was purportedly showed the wreckage of the MI-171 helicopter in Chukuba Village, Shiroro Local Government Area, Niger State, and the bodies of victims nearby. The video had been making the rounds on social media.

According to the NAF spokesperson, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, crashes are not unique to the Air Force and are occasionally unavoidable in counterinsurgency and counterterrorism operations.

The wreckage of the MI-171 helicopter with the bodies of victims at Chukuba Village in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State is supposedly seen in a video that is circulating on social media platforms, the Nigerian Air Force has been alerted, he added. Although it is not in the NAF’s nature to reply to such allegations, especially ones made by terrorists, the urgency of addressing the misinformation is heightened by the well-intentioned worries of Nigerians.

“Incidences of fatalities, mishaps, and accidents are occasionally inevitable, as they are for all military groups engaged in counterinsurgency and terrorist operations. In an effort to halt the evil deeds of terrorists and criminal elements in the nation, the NAF has expanded the level of air operations during the past 8 years.

The possibility of air mishaps and accidents sometimes becomes unavoidable for a variety of reasons with increased levels of air operations brought on by an improved fleet, according to Gabkwet.

The statement continued, “In fact, the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Hasan Abubakar, said this much when he hosted Governor Umaru Bago of Niger State, yesterday, August 15, 2023, at his office, where he noted that the rates of aircraft accidents/incidences are directly proportional to the heightened level of air operations.”

He said the service would never be afraid to figure out what caused the crash.

While the NAF regrets such tragic events, especially when they result in the death of one of our colleagues, Gbkwet vowed that the Service would never hesitate to identify the crash’s likely cause and make conclusions from it.

Although he added that it might lower soldier morale, he encouraged people who were disseminating the film to avoid supporting the “propaganda inclinations of terrorists.”

The need to reconsider the effects of their actions on the morale of troops, families of deceased personnel, and Nigeria’s national security is imperative, the spokesperson said, for those who, intentionally or unintentionally, support the terrorists’ propaganda tendencies by disseminating videos of the alleged crash site with graphic images of dead military personnel.

He continued by saying that the military was unwavering and would see to it that the adversaries were defeated.

“For the NAF and in fact all of the personnel of the Armed Forces, our will and drive to improve the present security situation in Niger State and in fact other difficult areas of the nation remain unwavering. To the contrary, we are more determined than ever to engage the adversary head-on until they submit.

He pleaded with Nigerians for support for the military and other security forces, promising that the nation’s security forces will work together to defeat the adversaries.

Tuesday, Nyesom Wike, a former governor of Rivers State, made a visit to Abdullahi Ganduje, the new national chairman of the All Progressives Congress, at his private residence in Abuja.

Wike, one of President Bola Tinubu’s 45 nominees for minister, was seen posing with Ganduje in images that quickly went viral.

Some of Wike’s supporters and PDP leaders from the Rivers State branch may also be seen in the pictures, stoking speculation of a potential switch to the ruling APC.

At around 2.35 p.m., Ganduje was seen entering the party secretariat after hosting the minister-designate and his group for many hours.

Top PDP leaders have recently made fruitless attempts to get Wike kicked out of the party for his alleged anti-party activities.

There were no confirmed specifics of their private encounter at the time this item was filed.

The national publicity secretary of the ruling party was unable to be reached for comment.

However, the APC’s director of publicity, Bala Ibrahim, saw nothing wrong with the visit.

“You can infer from the national chairman’s remarks made yesterday (at the gathering of former deputy governors) that he wants to boost the party’s fortunes, which is another way of indicating he is not ruling out any possibilities.

“He wants to ensure that the party continues to gain ground. Given that certain states are holding sporadic (off-season) gubernatorial elections, he has come to strengthen the party’s victories.