BREAKING: NNPC: Reno Omokri Reacts as El-Rufai Responds to Claim of Alleged Yorubanisation Agenda by Tinubu

Reno Omokri, a popular social media personality, has described as baseless the notion that Yoruba people head consequential agencies in Nigeria.

According to Omokri, this claim “is capable of causing the type of market ripples that negatively affect the All Share Index of the Nigerian Stock Exchange”.

Legit.ng recalls that Nasir El-Rufai, former governor of Kaduna state, weighed in on Professor Farooq Kperogi’s recent criticism of alleged ethnic favouritism in President Bola Tinubu’s appointments.

In an article titled “Tinubu’s Buharisation of the NNPC,” Kperogi accused Tinubu of appointing “Yoruba people” to key positions at the NNPC. He said an anonymous source informed him that one Bayo Ojulari is “being proposed as group managing director (GMD) after Mele Kyari’s term expires” in early 2024.

US-based Kperogi drew parallels between Tinubu’s alleged “Yorubacentric” appointments in the NNPC and the “Arewacentricity” he criticised during former President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure.

Reacting to Kperogi’s latest column, El-Rufai tweeted tersely:

“DECEMBER MESSAGE: Two wrongs do not make a right. Sensible inclusion always trumps arrogant exclusion.”

‘Tinubu has no Yorubanisation agenda’ – Omokri

But in a counter-post on Sunday afternoon, December 29, Omokri, a known supporter of the Tinubu government, wrote:

“In Nigeria, other than the NNPCL, the Nigerian Ports Authority, the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, the Nigerian Communication Commission, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, and the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation are the top five revenue earners for the Federal Government. Only two of these six agencies (when you add NNPCL) are headed by people from the Southwest.

“The CEO of the NNPCL, Mele Kyari, is from the Northeast. The CEO of the Nigerian Ports Authority, Abubakar Dantsoho, is from the Northeast. The MD of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Mrs. Olubunmi Oluwaseun Kuku, is from the Southwest. The CEO of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Dr. Aminu Maida, is from the Northwest.

“The CEO of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Dayo Mobereola, is from the Southwest. The CEO of the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation, Bello Hassan, is from the Northwest

“Flowing from the above, where is the Yorubanisation or Yorubacentricity?”

Kperogi’s allegations: NNPCL reacts

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that the NNPCL debunked allegations of ethnic bias in its leadership structure, stating that employment decisions are based solely on merit.

Olufemi Soneye, chief corporate communications officer of the NNPCL, addressed concerns raised in Kperogi’s article. Soneye clarified that the NNPC’s leadership structure is guided by business requirements, expertise, and merit rather than ethnicity, tribe, religion, or political affiliation.