President Bola Tinubu has barred all ex-Niger Delta militant leaders from visiting him in the presidential villa in Abuja.
Politics Nigeria learnt that the decision was taken in the aftermath of the visit to President Tinubu by the leader of the defunct Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF), Alhaji Mujarhedeen Asari-Dokubo, on June 16.
It was gathered that Tinubu was disturbed by public utterances and actions of Asari-Dokubo in the aftermath of his visit.
Tinubu was said to have been bothered that all “verbal vituperations and militant activities” of Asari-Dokubo in the Niger Delta were subsequently linked to him after the June audience with the notable activist.
As he stepped out of the Villa, Asari-Dokubo, in a chat with the State House reporters, took a swipe at the Armed Forces, accusing its personnel of being neck-deep in economic sabotage, especially crude oil theft and vandalism of oil equipment in the region.
The allegation, it was revealed, embarrassed and shocked Tinubu, especially as he made the shocking allegations, moments after departing his office.
Dokubo’s outbursts against the military within the vicinity of the villa gave the inkling that the president shared the same views with the notable ex-militant commander.
Similarly, Asari-Dokubo’s unacceptable conduct in the eyes of the presidency moved beyond tolerable level when he took on the Rivers governor, Siminalayi Fubara, threatening to deal with the chief executive of the oil-rich state.
The presidency was said to be irked that his association with the president continued to give a wrong signal to the public that he enjoyed the support and backing of the nation’s number one citizen.
Considering the above, it was learnt that the president has ordered that he would no longer play host to the ex-militant commanders and militias in the villa apparently to forestall the negative impression and unenviable signal such association was likely to create in the psyche of the public.
To this end, all individuals known to be linked with the Niger Delta ethnic crisis and oil industry unrest in the region, who requested for courtesy visits and audience with the president in the aftermath of the Asari-Dokubo’s experience, had their applications declined by the Presidency.
The president was said to have resolved to distance himself from some militant leaders (names withheld) in view of his experience with Asari-Dokubo
