Several Ogoni groups in Rivers State have urged President Bola Tinubu to reverse the recent appointment of the Board of Trustees of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project.
The President had on Monday reconstituted the HYPREP Board of Trustees, with Emmanuel Deeyah named as chairman.
In an open letter to the President on Wednesday, signed by the Ogoni Chiefs and Elders Forum, Concerned Ogoni Elders Forum, Ogoni Youth Development Initiative, Coalition of Ogoni Youth Leadership Forum, Ogoni Mothers of Charity, and others, the groups said they received the news of the board’s reconstitution “with mixed feelings.”
They described as “inaccurate and misleading” the classification of Deeyah’s emergence as a reappointment, noting that “Emmanuel Deeyah has never served as BoT Chairman.”
The letter partly read,” While we appreciate your ongoing commitment to the cleanup of our polluted environment, we are deeply concerned that genuine efforts to bring transformation, development, and healing to Ogoniland are repeatedly undermined by petty political interference.
“It is clear that your intention was to reappoint Dr. Mike Nwielaghi as HYPREP’s BoT Chairman. Yet, we are informed that certain politicians have hijacked the process, replacing his name with that of Hon. Emmanuel Deeyah. This substitution does not reflect your decision, but appears to be the handiwork of individuals seeking to serve personal political interests.”
The groups said the previous Board of Trustees, led by Nwielaghi, performed remarkably and deserved to be reappointed.
“The Ogoni people were satisfied with their work, and the OYDI formally conveyed a vote of confidence to your office, urging their reappointment to ensure continuity. It is therefore shocking that, instead of building on that success, efforts are now heightened to truncate this momentum,” they added.
They called for the reversal of the announcement and the reinstatement of Nwielaghi, insisting that such action would sustain the cleanup’s momentum and strengthen the President’s political support in the region ahead of the 2027 elections.
“If the will and support of the Ogoni people are important to you, we respectfully request that you reverse the recent announcement and restore the reappointment of Dr. Mike Nwielaghi as BoT Chairman of HYPREP.
“Any new appointment, for instance, Hon. Emmanuel Deeyah, should be classified as an appointment and not a reappointment. It is crystal clear that the President reappointed Dr. Mike Nwielaghi, but the same was edited and replaced with the name of Emmanuel Deeyah”, the letter added.
