President Buhari
Tinubu
Kachikwu
Inside sources have confirmed that the public spat between the national leader of Nigeria’s ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, is as a result of the appointment of Onikepo Animashaun, as the GM Legal of the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) Ltd. The sources noted that the spat is an indicator of the crack in the leadership of the ruling party resulting in Tinubu to resort to shadow boxing President Muhammadu Buhari, who he sees as bent on whittling down his much touted influence in the party.
The source said that Tinubu’s angst owed to Mrs Animashaun’s appointment without his consent. His words:
“Animashaun was said to have been proposed by Pastor Tunde Bakare, supported by Ex-Gov. Fashola, and it is this, that someone from the South West, especially Lagos, without his consent has been appointed that has so enraged Tinubu to the extent that he sought to have the appointment overturned. To this end he is said to have called Kachikwu and demanded that the decision be reversed, to which Kachikwu said that once the appointment had been done with due process it could not be reversed. Especially as Lagos State had not opposed it! On hearing this Tinubu was said to have instructed Ambode to officially oppose her nomination and appointment. This was subsequently done. However, the appointee was said to have heard of these moves by Tinubu, via a contact within Tinubu’s camp, so she then tendered her various commendations and awards from the same Lagos State government, where she rose to the post of Permanent Secretary, before retirement with full benefits.”
“These commendations and awards, which clearly stated that she was one of the best performing Permanent Secretary’s in Lagos State, were said to have been more than enough evidence of her suitability and capability for the appointment. It is also said to have shown that Tinubu’s grouse was nothing short of an attempt to control, and not in the interest of the party. Bakare, Fashola and Kachikwu were happy to see her become the GM Legal of the NPDC as she had served meritoriously, and also this would further enhance the position of women in the APC government, something Tinubu is said to be privately against. The source further stated that on hearing about the issue Buhari stated that anyone once appointed with due process could not be removed without the same due process, and not as a result of any pandering to any persons wishes. This was said to have made Tinubu irate, as he sees the whole episode as being attempts to whittle down his influence, and control, of the South West by Buhari via his proxy Fashola, whose appointment Tinubu vehemently opposed.”
“On hearing the public outburst by Tinubu against Kachikwu our source also confirmed that El Rufai clearly stated that this was anti party and typical of Tinubu and his egotistical manner. Even a former prominent government official, now a top class traditional ruler, was said to have commented that this sort of behaviour is typical. As a last resort Tinubu is said to have engineered the summons of Kachikwu to appear before the Senate, hoping to indirectly attack President Buhari over the lingering fuel shortages and thereby engineer a change of not only Onikepo Animashaun, as the GM Legal of NPDC, but also Kachikwu, who he made a telephone call to and swore to him that he would know no peace as a result of him denying Tinubu’s request.”
But in response underlining his an apparent effort to dissociate himself from the politics which Tinubu is conveniently playing with the criticism of his handling of the fuel crisis, Nigeria Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Kachikwu, has promised that “by April 7th, there would be no more queue for fuel across the nation.”
Kachikwu spoke in Abuja on Monday while honouring the summons by the country’s Senate Committee on Petroleum Downstream, which asked him to come and explain why the fuel queues have persisted across the country.
He apologized to Nigerians for what was seen as his earlier insensitive remarks about the lingering fuel scarcity, noting that his comments were just a side joke not intended for publication. He had reportedly said recently that he was not a “magician” while making comments on the issue after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari and labour leaders in the oil industry.
He told the Senators: “Let me first admit that I am not a typically experienced politician. I am a technocrat. I come to work.
“I do apologise for the comment that I made jocularly with my friends in the press about being a magician and it offended Nigerians; it was not meant to be, it was a side jocular issue. I did go on to explain what needed to be done. I did not know that it would create the kind of hyperbole that it did.”
He added that he shared the pains of Nigerians, stressing that he is working all-day to monitor petroleum products supply, with a view to ensuring that the challenge is brought to an end.
He said that he continues to work hard with one sole purpose in mind to surmount the problems facing Nigeria’s petroleum sector.
Kachikwu, while responding to high profile people in the current government who want him to resign, maintained that there are still lots of work to be done and, as a result, he would not resign. He said: “All those who drove all the way to Abuja to call for my resignation are only wasting their time.”
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