The Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) has accused the Minister of Petroleum Resources (oil) Senator Heineken Lokpobiri for being responsible for the lingering fuel crisis across the country.
The council, in a statement released in Port Harcourt, Rivers State on Wednesday, said Lokpobiri lacks the capacity to manage the sensitive ministry, adding that his tenure has not been inspiring.
The statement was signed by Maobuye Nangi Obu - Secretary General, Comrade Miracle Iyaye, National Women Leader, Barr. Tamunotonye David Altraide, National Legal Adviser and Comr. Abiye Bob-Manuel, National Deputy Director of Mobilization.
The stressed that his lackluster performance and complete ineffectiveness is evident in the way agencies under his ministry have continued to mismanage the oil sector and inflicting pains on Nigerians.
The IYC was reacting to the latest September resumption date of the Port Harcourt Refinery as announced by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) on Monday.
The council in the statement said the new date which they noted may not also be feasible has confirmed their position that under Lokpobiri, there is no hope for better days in the oil sector.
They noted that Lokpobiri’s reputation for inaction clearly raises doubts about his ability to push and implement the needed reforms in the sector to make Nigerians enjoy availability and cost-effective prices of petroleum products.
The IYC officials stated that Nigerians are suffering, especially those in rural areas like far-flung communities in the Niger Delta, because of the cost of petrol and keeping Lokpobiri as Minister will worsen the hardship being experienced.
"We have not seen any tangible results since his appointment. The economy of Nigeria depends heavily on the stability and efficiency of our oil sector. But we are seeing the manifestation of incompetence.
"He told Nigerians some time ago that the Port Harcourt refinery will come on stream on or before 25th December 2023, and that didn't happen. In fact, he went as far as saying that crude has been supplied to the refinery.
"Today, a litre of petrol sell as high as N2500 or more in some Ijaw communities. We say this because we have been traveling around the region as part of our advocacy for peace and unity of our people."
The IYC officials called on President Bola Tinubu to reshuffle his cabinet and send Lokpobiri to a ministry that "he can hide his incompetence, else he will continue to derail the Renewed Hope Agenda for the petroleum sector."
They said: "There are more competent people even from Bayelsa that could have done a better job than him. The man clearly does not understand the workings of that office.
"Lokpobiri's retroactive actions and sheer incompetence has caused untoward hardship on Nigerians, especially the Ijaws, his kinsmen. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, should rejig his cabinet and replace him with a more competent Ijaw man/woman from even Bayelsa where there are abundant of more experienced people."
