A Call for Intervention Over the Arrest of Journalist Fejiro Oliver and for Accountability in Delta State
From: Tinubu Shettima Back to Farm Initiative (TSBFI)
Date: October 1, 2025
To:
Professor Nentawe Goshwe Yilwatda, National Chairman, APC
Dear Professor Yilwatda,
On behalf of the Tinubu Shettima Back to Farm Initiative (TSBFI), under the leadership of Engr. Felix Akpoyibo, we write with grave concern over the unlawful arrest and continued detention of journalist Fejiro Oliver, who has been merely exercising his democratic right to question governance and demand accountability in Delta State.
Delta is a state of peculiar strategic importance in the South-South: it hosts the largest oil deposits in that region, and also possesses among the greatest expanses of arable land. In any normal context, this combination should have translated into a leading example of agricultural renaissance, food security, rural employment, and complementary industries under the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Unfortunately, that has not happened.
From 2015 through 2024, Delta State has received ₦2.744 trillion in allocations from the Federation Accounts (FAAC). The annual disbursements are:
2015: ₦159.8 billion
2016: ₦148.2 billion
2017: ₦186.6 billion
2018: ₦213 billion
2019: ₦214.4 billion
2020: ₦186.83 billion
2021: ₦240 billion
2022: ₦348 billion
2023: ₦483.57 billion
2024 (Projected): ₦564.29 billion
Total: ₦2.744 trillion
Shockingly, in just two years under Governor Sheriff Francis Oborevwori—who defected into the APC in 2025 — nearly ₦1.05 trillion has been received by the state.
If only 10% of that revenue had been committed truly and judiciously to agriculture, aquaculture, and modern (smart) farming, Delta could easily have become Nigeria’s benchmark in food production, agro-industrialization, and rural prosperity. What we instead see is pervasive infrastructure decay, failing schools, under-equipped hospitals, deplorable healthcare delivery, lack of potable water, and mass unemployment of youth.
The arrest of Fejiro Oliver is not just an attack on one individual. It is a dangerous signal to all dissenting voices: that speaking truth to power will be met with repression. This is wholly inconsistent with the APC’s declared respect for human rights, freedom of speech, and freedom of expression.
We respectfully appeal to you, Professor Yilwatda, as National Chairman of our party, to:
1. Intervene decisively to secure the unconditional release of Fejiro Oliver, who is detained solely for doing the work of journalism.
2. Urge Governor Sheriff Oborevwori and other newly decamped Governors to align with the APC’s values, especially regarding respect for fundamental rights, and to desist from using state power to suppress civic voices.
3. Facilitate or demand a comprehensive audit of Delta State’s FAAC and derivative revenue inflows since 2015, to ensure that future allocations are translated into results on the ground.
4. Ensure that in APC-led states, parties, governments, and elected officials are held to the standard of openness, accountability, and non-intimidation of civil society and press institutions.
Delta should not be remembered as the state with greatest potential and richest revenues, but among the least transformed. The APC must guard against hypocrisy—that while we campaign in the name of “renewed hope,” we allow state actors to silence dissent and weaponize security agencies.
We trust that under your leadership, the party will uphold its commitment to democratic values and restore public confidence that APC governance means justice, equity, and protection of rights.
Respectfully,
Engr. Felix Akpoyibo
National President
Tinubu Shettima Back to Farm Initiative (TSBFI)
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