The South-South and the South-East chapters of the All
Progressives Congress have supported the criticism of
the Minister of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu by the
APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
The South-South APC advised the minister to resign if
he was incapable of doing his job.
This was contained in a statement signed by the party’s
National Vice-Chairman, South South, Hilliard Eta, a
copy of which was made available to newsmen in Abuja
on Sunday.
The statement entitled, “No split in APC: Tinubu right to
critique Kachikwu,” the National Vice-Chairman said it
was the opinion of the South-South chapter of the
party that Kachikwu had yet to purge himself of his
Peoples Democratic Party’s orientation.
Kachikwu, who hails from the South-South, had in an
interview with journalists in Abuja on Wednesday, said
fuel queues could not be eliminated with a magic wand.
He said that despite government’s efforts, fuel queues
would remain in the country in the next two months,
adding that he was not a magician.
Supporting Tinubu, Eta said, “The South-South Chapter
of the All Progressives Congress feels that Kachikwu has
not entirely cast off the orientation of the Peoples
Democratic Party, where he was and this is manifest in
his actions and utterances such as the recent one that
attracted opprobrium from many Nigerians.
“Mr. Kachikwu must not be a cog in the wheel of
progress and he should do the needful by resigning
honourably if he is not capable of doing his part by
effectively running the ministry assigned to him.”
The party chieftain noted that the minister, as a
member of the President’s cabinet with a very important
office, “it is incumbent on him to shed his haughtiness
and climb down from his high horse to face his duties
squarely.”
According to Eta, Tinubu’s observation about the
utterances of the minister is in line with the core
ideology of progressivism which the APC espouses as it
is the very foundation on which the party rests.
Eta said, “This progressive ideology strongly emphasises
government as a tool for service to the people who are
the custodians of power in the first instance.
“In line with this, it is not wrong or out of place for
Tinubu to caution the Minister of State for Petroleum,
Mr. Ibe Kachikwu, owing to the anti-progressive
statements he made in the Presidential Villa on
Wednesday, March 23, 2016, while fielding questions
from journalists on the persisting scarcity of petrol.”
The South-South leader of the APC said Tinubu’s
critique of the minister did not amount to a split in the
APC.
He observed that if anything, it had further
strengthened the commitment of the party and the
government it had formed to be fully accountable to
Nigerians.
It will be recalled that Tinubu had taken exceptions to
comments made by the minister with regards to the
lingering fuel crisis in the country.
Also speaking on the issue, the South-East Chapter of
the party stated that Tinubu had voiced the frustrations
of Nigerians.
The South-East Zonal spokesman for the party, Mr.
Osita Okechukwu, said this in a telephone interview with
The PUNCH, in Abuja on Sunday.
He explained that Tinubu’s democratic credentials and
his commitment to the Nigerian project were not in
doubt.
Okechukwu, however, said calls for Kachikwu’s
resignation in some quarters were hasty in the light of
the realities on the ground.
He said, “Our National Leader, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu,
re-echoed the anger of the Nigerian people about the
current situation we have found ourselves with regards
to the shortage of petrol.
“We have been privileged to have attended the recent
meeting the President held with stakeholders in the oil
and gas sector where he outlined his policies and
programmes with regards to how he intends to deal
with the problem.
“It was part of his commitment to resolving these
issues that made him (the President) take up the
responsibility of the Minister of Petroleum.
“He has visited Saudi Arabia and Qatar and he has made
a personal commitment to supporting private sector
investment in the sector. Having this as a background,
we wish to state that calls for Kachikwu to resign are
hasty at this point.”
Punch
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