Niger Delta stakeholders have sent a protest letter to President Muhammadu Buhari dismissing an allegation of perjury against the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva.
A group, New Nigeria Global Initiative (NNGI), allegedly wrote the petition against the minister.
They described the petition by NNGI against Sylva as fake, frivolous, laughable and an open display of dangerous politics ahead of 2023. The Federal penalties for perjury include fines and/or prison terms upon conviction. United States Federal law (18 USC § 1621), states that anyone found guilty of the crime of perjury will be fined or imprisoned for up to five years.
The stakeholders comprising civil right activists and ex-agitators from the region, said the preliminary investigations into the purported petition and the bribery allegations levelled against Sylva and the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) Simbi Wabote, showed that the signatories were fictitious
They claimed that the ghost petitioners were being used by some corrupt-minded politicians against the sterling achievements recorded by Mr President and Sylva in the nation’s oil and gas sector in the last six years.
The stakeholders under the auspices of the Niger Delta Advocate for Peace and Good Governance Group (NDAPGG), argued that the allegations against Sylva and Wabote were fake, false, unfounded and should be discountenanced.
They said: “Today, we can categorically state here, without mincing any words, that the clueless and baseless allegations were cooked up and doctored by a group of criminal elements that is bereft of ideas and is unaware that it is no longer business as usual in the nation’s oil and gas Industry.”
The petition to Buhari, signed by the NDAPGG National Coordinator, Fiawei E Pathfinder, Deputy Coordinator, Bekes Apere, Secretary, AK Peters, Peres Ayama and Kingsley Tamaramienye, warned those blackmailing officials of government to be careful in order not to incur the wrath of the people of the region.
They reminded them that the present administration of President Muhammadu Buhari had gone beyond the era of blackmail of officials of government and the use of fake name and non-existent group to perpetrate their devilism.
They condemned in strong terms the desperate attempt to indict Wabote over alleged involvement in bribery involving Saipem Train 7 NLNG project, saying that the ES is a man of impeccable character and an icon of local content in Nigeria and on the continent.
They said: “Engr Simbi Wabote is a household name that is known for transparency, accountability and open-door policies with so many achievements recorded so far since he took over the helms of affairs of NCDMB.
“He is not known for any corrupt practices and has nothing hidden in his cupboard like other politicians from the region.
“The financial books of the NCDMB are wide open for auditing before the public at all times. And since Wabote took over the NCDMB board as ES, there have been a lot of turnaround of massive infrastructure development projects in the region.
The stakeholders, therefore, warned those allegedly blackmailing the duo of Sylva and Wabote to desist and hide their corrupt faces in shame.
