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A meeting by the executive and council members of Ethiopian Somali People’s Democratic Party and clan elders in Addis Ababa on Wednesday unanimously nominated Mr. Mustafa Muhumed Omer as the acting President of the Somali region.
Mr. Omer will head the region in acting capacity until the May 2020 elections.
The seat fell vacant after the resignation of Abdi Iley following a standoff with the federa government that led to the Ethiopian national army taking over the security of the Somali region.
Finance Minister Ahmed Abdi Mohamed took over the position on interim basis.
ONLF organisation has protested the nomination of Omer calling him a “stooge” of the Addis Ababa federal government.
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“It is now very clear that #OPDO has decided to follow the footsteps of #TPLF and infringe on the right of #Somalis to self determination granted by the Ethiopian constitution by nominating a stooge leader to the Somali regional administration without the consent of the people” the organisation tweeted.
Mr Omer was born in 1973 in Degahbour, in the Somali regional state.
He was seen as a critic Abdi Illey’s ten year long rule over the region amid reports of rampant abuse of human rights by the Liyu police.
Omer was forced to go to exile after the mysteriois death of his brother which he accused Abdi Iley of being the mastermind.
He has been working for UN in Somalia while the rest of his immediate family lived in Kenya.
“My father mother and other members of my family will return to their home country end of this month after close to 2 years of exile in Kenya” Omer posted on his Facebook.
He is an economist by profession and holds a Masters of Science degree in Agricultural Economics
