Prof Osinbajo hits the ground running as acting president calling meeting on Niger Delta

PROFESSOR Yemi Osinbajo has hit the ground running in his new role as acting president by inviting Nigeria's service chiefs and governors from the Niger Delta region to State House to discuss the ongoing crisis in the region.

 

Over recent weeks, militancy has returned to the Niger Delta with a new group called the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) blowing up oil pipelines and installations.  Despite the flooding of the region with troops, the crisis has refused to go away and the security forces have been unable to get on top of the situation.

 

On Monday, President Muhammadu Buhari left Nigeria for London, taking a 10-day holiday to get treatment on an ear infection. In line with Nigeria's constitutional requirements, he has written to the National Assembly, informing legislators that he has handed over the Professor Osinbajo, who will act as president for the time being.

 

In his first act as acting president, Professor Osinbajo called a meeting of the military brass and Niger Delta governors to find a way to address the renewed militancy. Among those who attended the meeting were the minister of state for petroleum resources Ibe Kachikwu and the minister for Niger Delta affairs Usani Uguru, who joined the governors of Rivers, Bayelsa, Ondo, Delta, Edo and Abia States.

Delta State governor Ifeanyi Okowa, said: “We governors of the oil producing states, security chiefs and ministers who are concerned met with the vice president and I believe we had a very fruitful meeting. One thing we identified is the synergy between the federal government and the states, which is very important and this meeting has raised a lot of issues.

 

"We believe that the collaboration will help us to tackle the issues in the Niger Delta . We have taken a lot of decisions which will help us mitigate what is going on currently in the states, particularly Bayelsa and Delta states.”

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Navy said it had apprehended the coordinator of a series of attacks on the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and Chevron oil and gas facilities in Delta State. Commodore Raimi Mohammed, the commander of NNS Delta, added that the suspect was apprehended on June 2.