By BANNERNEWS Reporter, Calabar
The alleged exclusion of Cross River indigenes from the 2026 promotion exercise of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has exposed what a political support group described as the failure of the state’s political leaders to act collectively on issues affecting the state.
Director-General of the National Patriotic Front for Tinubu (NPFFT), Castro Ezama, made the allegation on Tuesday while addressing a press conference at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Press Centre in Calabar.
Ezama said the reported outcome raised questions about the effectiveness of the three senators and members of the House of Representatives representing Cross River State at the National Assembly in pursuing issues of common interest to the state.
According to him, the state has continued to suffer marginalisation in some federal institutions because its political leaders have failed to speak with one voice.
Ezama alleged that 106 NUPRC staff were promoted across four management cadres, but none of the beneficiaries was from Cross River, despite the presence of indigenes of the state among eligible staff.
He claimed that Rivers State recorded eight promotions, while Edo and Delta had six each, and Bayelsa and Akwa Ibom recorded three each.
“We are informed that Cross River State indigenes were represented at each of the management levels, yet not one was promoted,” he said.
Ezama, however, acknowledged that the figures needed to be verified against official records, saying the reported disparity warranted an independent review of the exercise.
He questioned how an exercise involving 106 promotions across four management levels could produce no successful candidate from Cross River while other South-South states recorded beneficiaries.
Ezama called for an urgent and impartial review of the promotion process and, where any irregularity is established, appropriate corrective measures, including a supplementary list.
He also urged the Presidency and relevant supervising authorities to ensure that federal institutions apply merit, due process and federal character principles transparently.
“We call on the Federal Character Commission to examine the state-of-origin distribution and decision-making process in the 2026 NUPRC promotion exercise,” he said.
The NPFFT has previously called for the release of a state-by-state and cadre-by-cadre breakdown of eligible, assessed and successful candidates to enable the allegations to be independently examined.
