BEVERLY HILLS, June 02, (THEWILL) – An exclusive story earlier published by THEWILL panned out true on Thursday as President Muhammadu Buhari failed to show up for the flag-off ceremony for the clean up of polluted Ogoni-land. Instead, he sent his Vice, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo SAN to represent him at the event, as the story had it.
Speaking in Bodo city, Gokana LGA of Rivers State, Buhari through Osinbajo expressed delight that he had come to fulfill his campaign promise to the people of Ogoni that he would clean up their environment if he voted into office as President.
The President however cautioned oil thieves to desist from their action, adding that oil theft and attack on oil facilities in the Niger Delta were affecting the economy of the communities and of the nation.
He charged oil firms to put a stop to the pollution of the environment and go about their oil exploratory and production activities in line with international best practice.
Read the earlier story by THEWILL below:
President Muhammadu Buhari has cancelled his widely publicized June 2nd trip to the Niger Delta to inaugurate the clean up of Ogoni land, Rivers State, a source familiar with the development has said.
President Buhari according to THEWILL source has asked Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to represent him at the official launch of the clean up of the devastated Ogoni-land, which has suffered severe degradation over the years courtesy of oil spills in the region.
The Minister of the Environment, Amina Mohammed, had said: “I can confirm that President Buhari will visit Ogoni land on June 2 to flag-off cleanup of oil spills in the area as recommended in the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report.
“Buhari would return to Ogoni land where he inaugurated a fish pond in 1984 where the once flourishing pond regrettably had been destroyed by oil pollution.”
This is the second cancellation of a highly publicized visit of the President within four weeks. A few days ago, the Presidency unexpectedly announced the cancellation of the President’s official visit to Nigeria’s commercial hub, Lagos. Instead, President Buhari drafted Vice President Osinbajo to represent him at the commissioning of several key projects in the state.
Some news reports attributed the trip’s cancellation to a sudden ear infection, which struck the President, but the Presidency said it aborted the visit due to President Buhari’s very tight schedule.
The often reliable source told THEWILL that President Buhari will instead depart Nigeria for Senegal at the weekend.
THEWILL was unable to independently confirm the cancellation of the President’s visit to the Niger Delta. Calls to his spokesmen, Mr. Garba Shehu and Femi Adesina were not acknowledged as at the time of filing this report.
