A Yoruba group, Oodua Nationalist Coalition, ONAC, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to reverse new appointments in the Niger-Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
The group advised Buhari to appoint a technocrat Yoruba of Ondo State extraction as Managing Director of the NDDC.
In a petition sent to the President, ONAC said the appointments are tilted towards the disadvantage of Ondo State, which is the 5th largest oil producing state in the country.
“We condemn in very strong terms the failure of you the President to appoint an indigene of Ondo State as the Managing Director of the NDDC. Mr President sir, instead, you appointed both the Chairman and the Managing Director from Akwa Ibom and Cross River States which remain the stronghold of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) which voted and campaigned against your government in the last elections,” ONAC said in the petition signed Dr Ahmed Adeluyi on behalf of 35 Yoruba groups.
“Ondo produces about 18% of Nigerian oil output. Because of the disruptive activities of the militants, the state, which used to be 5th on the production list, is now No 4 on the list of the oil producing states”, it explained.
“Ilaje is the only local government that produces oil in Yorubaland apart from the new found oil in Lagos . The best way for Buhari to even the age long injustice against the Yoruba oil producing communities is to appoint a technocrat of Ilaje extraction as the new head of the NDDC”.