Tinubu Bows To Pressure, Reinstate Sacked HYPREP Coordinator

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – President Bola Tinubu has approved the reinstatement of Professor Nenibarini Zabbey as the Project Coordinator of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP).

President’s Spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, in a statement issued on Monday said the President reached the decision to reinstate Zabbey following a performance review of the HYPREP Project Coordinator and concluded that the Project Coordinator was fit to discharge his functions in accordance with the regulations guiding the execution of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP).

The statement stressed that by the directive of the President, the reinstatement of the HYPREP Project Coordinator takes immediate effect.

The President, through a statement issued by Ngelale last Saturday, announced the removal of Zabbey as HYPREP Coordinator while Dr. Olufemi Adekanmbi was named as his replacement.

However, the decision to sack Zabbey and replace him with a non-Ogoni man was met with stiff resistance as it sparked protests from major stateholders in the Niger Delta region.

Some youth groups in Ogoni, Rivers State had issued ultimatum to the Federal Government to rescind its decision and reinstate Zabbey.

The groups had threatened to cripple all project sites in Ogoni if the Federal Government failed to reinstate Zabbey.

They stated that Ogoni has qualified individuals to run the project which was initiated through the efforts and sacrifices of the Ogoni people without Federal assistance.

The youth leaders insisted that if the presidency did not reinstate Zabbey, whom they believed was performing well, they would have no choice but to shut down all project sites