John Alechenu, Abuja.
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.”
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