Storm over Kachikwu

Nigerians hail Tinubu for criticising Minister of his party’s govt

Kachikwu’s statement an insult to suffering Nigerians – Northern CAN

Blame Buhari, not him for fuel scarcity – Social media activists

Civil society coalition calls for Minister’s resignation

Okupe defends him, says Nigerians abhor the truth

Nigerians were on Sunday sharply divided over the upbraiding of the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu by the National Leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. Tinubu had on Saturday came down hard on Kachikwu, who is also the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) demanding an apology over his recent outburst on the lingering fuel scarcity in the country. Kachikwu had last Wednesday declared that the “prevailing fuel scarcity may linger till May,” adding that he was not a magician to offer a quickfix.

Reacting to this in a statement on Saturday, Tinubu had described the minister’s statement as unbecoming of a ‘member of this progressive government,’ adding that, ‘he has strayed from the progressive calling required of this administration.’

In the nine-paragraph statement personally signed by him, and entitled “Kachikwu needs to know that respect and good performance will do what magic cannot,” the former Lagos State governor had admonished him on the rudiments of understanding his role as a public servant and applying it strictly in his relationship with the people, who he described as “his boss.” While acknowledging that he insulted the people by his “unguarded,” and “cavalier” remark, Tinubu had observed that “he committed an act of insubordination,” enjoining him to “refrain from such interjections in the future.”

Many Nigerians reacted on Sunday to Tinubu’s criticism of the Minister, with some hailing the APC leader for speaking against a member of cabinet in a government of his party, while others were of the view that his anger was misdirected and that Nigerians abhor the truth. Speaking in Kaduna with the correspondent on a national newspaper, as reported in its online version on Sunday, Public Relations Officer of the Northern Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev. John Hayab criticised Kachikwu, for saying that fuel scarcity might linger till May.

Hayab described Kachikwu’s statement as unguarded and an insult to the long-suffering Nigerians, stressing that Nigerians voted the current government for positive change. According to him, government is meant to cushion effects of hardship on the people, hence it needs to wake up to its responsibilities now more than ever before. He said, “What we are saying is that government is meant for the people and as such government should double its efforts to reducing the pains inflicted on the average Nigerians by the fuel scarcity in the country.

“The way and manner Nigerians queue, (some even sleep at filing stations) in the face of this hardship is unacceptable to the leadership Northern CAN. “Northern CAN wants the government to earnestly do something urgent to avert this ugly situation before it gets out of hands.” Reacting, a chieftain of the APC, Olusegun Osinkolu , praised Asiwaju Bola Tinubu , for cautioning Kachikwu on how to address Nigerians on the issue of fuel scarcity.

Osinkolu, who was one of those who hailed the party’s National Leader, said the statement made by Tinubu was in the best interest of Nigerians and the APC-led government and should not be mischievously misinterpreted to mean existence of crack within the ruling party. Speaking in Ayede Ekiti on Sunday while addressing his supporters, Osinkolu however dispelled the insinuation milling rounds that Kachikwu is not competent to handle the Ministry. Supporting Tinubu’s vituperation against Kachikwu, Osinkolu said Nigerians who are at the receiving end of the hardbiting scarcity expected proactive action from government in line with the change agenda of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s government and that Kachikwu’s response was not the best way to assuage Nigerians’ feelings.

However, a coalition of civil society groups, Civil Society Coalition for Positive Change and Stand Up for Nigeria (SUN) have issued a 72 hours ultimatum to Kachikwu to resign from office over the prolonged scarcity of fuel which it said has brought Nigerians severe hardship. The groups stated that the inability of the minister of state to restore normalcy to the current fuel crisis shows his incompetence to manage the situation. Comrade Venatius Torkuma and Labake Boboye National President and Executive Director of the groups respectively in a joint statement issued and made available to journalists on Sunday, said the Minister of State for Petroleum has failed to justify his appointment.

The group described Kachikwu’s statement as careless and insulting to Nigerians who voted for the current administration. The group called on President Muhammadu Buhari to fire Kachikwu should he refuse to resign. But, erstwhile Senior Special Assistant to then President Goodluck Jonathan on Public Affairs, Doyin Okupe, has come to the defence of Kachikwu in view of the odium he attracted for reportedly stating that the present fuel shortage will last till May.

Okupe, who was quick to point out that he has no personal relationship with Kachikwu, observed in a statement posted on his Facebook page that Nigerians hate being told the truth, enjoining them to face the reality. Aside calling for an end to the policy of setting aside crude for local refining which he described as outdated and counter-productive, the former presidential spokesman gave insights into how Nigeria can overcome its energy crisis. His post reads in part: “The minister of state for Petroleum is a Nigerian I know by reputation only.

When he was appointed I actually wondered why on earth will a man in his exalted international position and pedigree come into the murky arena of the Nigerian oil business. It can only be patriotism. Since he assumed office I have noticed a high level of professionalism and candour. But Nigerians abhor the truth. The minister said a few weeks ago that it is cheaper to import fuel than process our crude locally. I thought that should be obvious to all discerning minds. Our newest refinery is 35years old.

“The capacity of the refinery to fractionate Crude reduces drastically with age. In its best form you get about 51% PMS per barrel of crude refined. But at the current ages of our refineries we hardly can do more than 35-40%. “Therefore our policy of setting aside crude for local refining is outdated and counter-productive and should be stopped. Secondly the minister said this present fuel crisis will tarry till May and all hell was let loose. The Hon Minister is right.

“He quietly informed the nation that NNPC is now responsible for 100% of our fuel imports. The reason for this anomaly is not farfetched. We consume 40m liters of PMS daily. At about $645/tonne that comes to about 55cents per liter is $22m/day. Which importer and which bank in Nigeria of today can open $22m daily?!!!! “Not even the Almighty NNPC! So that is the real cause of the scarcity. The truth is what the minister said, its not going away soonest. “ Meanwhile, Nigerian have taken to Twitter to express their views on the Tinubu upbraiding of Kachikwu.

Below are some tweets. @DukeLagos Tinubu didn’t attack Kachikwu for the scarcity, Tinubu attacked Kachikwu for his reckless statement about the scarcity. Different things @segalink, Kachikwu is a man under authority. He can only act as directed. Let’s ask the real Petroleum Minister real Questions @imamdimam Tinubu hitting Kachikwu only shows robustness of APC’s terms of engagement.

If it was B4, Maku, Okupe, Abati would have insulted Tinubu by now @adeyanjudeji Where was Tinubu when Buhari said Nigerians were criminals? @SomaKudi Someone needs to buy Kachikwu a bold “I AM NOT THE PETROLEUM MINISTER” T-Shirt @kingysly_01 They have left Emefiele, now it is Kachikwu’s turn. Is Kachikwu the Minister of Petroleum? This intellectual awiloism wont take us anywhere @akaebube Tinubu did a lengthy letter lambasting Kachikwu on Fuel scarcity. He didn’t have a single ball to mention our Minister of Petroleum, Buhari