By Awaisu Agwai Yauri (Sabon Ango)
There is growing disquiet from the heart of Nigeria’s hydroelectric belt once serene, riverine communities are now gripped by deep frustration. The recent appointment of Mrs. Tomi Somefun (from Oyo State) as Managing Director of the National Hydro-Electric Power Producing Areas Development Commission (HYPPADEC), announced late Friday by the Tinubu administration, is a startling deviation from both the spirit and letter of the law. This appointment is not only unjust it is unlawful.
Mr. President must be reminded that Section 93, Subsection 2 of the HYPPADEC Act explicitly states that the Managing Director “shall be an indigene from among the member states of the Commission”, and that the office shall rotate among them in alphabetical order. It further stipulates that “the Chairman and Managing Director shall not be indigenes of the same state.”
Oyo State is not a HYPPADEC member state. It is neither geographically nor functionally part of Nigeria’s hydroelectric-producing belt. Its rivers such as the Ogun or Ogunpa are not sources of hydroelectric power generation. This appointment is therefore a clear violation of the governing Act and a direct affront to the host communities whose lands, resources, and livelihoods have long borne the burden of national energy production.
The people of Niger, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Benue, and other member states of the Commission are not strangers to marginalisation. But this act a statutory breach and political slight cuts deeper. It erodes trust. It suggests that the interests of these communities, which shoulder the consequences of dams and displacement, are expendable in the chessboard of federal appointments.
It is not impossible to reverse this appointment. As this is not without precedent. The administration has previously reversed contentious appointments:
• The Upper Niger River Basin Development Authority was embroiled in controversy when two conflicting MD appointment letters were issued. A correction followed.
• The South East Development Commission board was restructured within days after public outcry.
• The controversial posting of a Permanent Secretary Magdalene Ajani to the FCTA was reversed after internal pushback.
Mr. President, the Jagaban Borgu, whose revered title traces to one of the aggrieved communities, must act in the spirit of justice and fidelity to law. Kainji power station one of Nigeria’s key hydroelectric installation reside in Borgu LGA. To exclude them or any of the states from leadership of a Commission created for their benefit is a grave political miscalculation.
This is not about personalities. It is about legality, fairness, and the need to protect the dwindling trust of a critical region in national leadership. The people of the HYPPADEC states are patient, peace-loving, and often silent. But silence must never be mistaken for consent. At a time of political recalibration nationwide, this is not a moment to provoke avoidable disaffection.
The appointment of Mrs. Somefun should be reversed. Anything less would not only constitute a legal breach but a moral failure with lasting political consequences.
Agwai Yauri writes from Kebbi State University of Science and Technology, Aliero, Kebbi State
