“Nigerians would recall that President Buhari's refusal to assent to the Maritime University bill is not the first antagonism of a Nigerian president to developmental efforts into the Niger Delta region through legislative intervention."
The Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), the umbrella body of youths in the Niger Delta has condemned President Muhammadu Buhari for failing to sign into law the Nigerian Maritime University, Okerenkoko, Delta State Establishment Bill 2018, claiming he is being misled by a cabal in Aso Rock.
“The IYC believes that Mr. President is being misled by the cabal in Aso Rock who do not want the institution to succeed. Therefore, the IYC call on the National Assembly under the leadership of Senate President Saraki and Speaker Dogara to veto the presidential assent and pass the bill into law," said Eric Omare, the IYC President.
He added, “Nigerians would recall that President Buhari's refusal to assent to the Maritime University bill is not the first antagonism of a Nigerian president to developmental efforts into the Niger Delta region through legislative intervention."
In 2000, when the NDDC Act was passed by the National Assembly, former President Olusegun Obasanjo was reported to have refused to sign the bill and the National Assembly under the leadership of Dr. Chuba Okadigbo passed the NDDC Act into law.
According Omare, history is repeating itself and therefore called on the National Assembly to defend the interests of the Niger Delta.
”We wish to remind President Buhari that the institution is part of the special response to the historical deprivation of the Niger Delta region which was conceived by the Obasanjo administration, nurtured under the Yar'Adua/Jonathan era and came to reality in the Jonathan administration with the laying of the sod in 2014 with academic activities kicking off under the Buhari administration in the year 2017," IYC stated.