Barring any last minute change in plan,
President Muhammadu Buhari will, on Friday (today), hold a crucial
meeting with the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe
Kachikwu, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja...
This is the first one-on-one meeting
Buhari will be having with the minister since a letter Kachikwu wrote to
the President on the conduct of the Group Managing Director of the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Dr. Maikanti Baru, was made
public.
It will also be the first time the
minister will be meeting the President, who is the substantive Minister
of Petroleum Resources, since Buhari returned from his medical trip on
August 19.
Kachikwu had stated in the letter that
he resorted to writing the letter after several unsuccessful attempts to
meet the President personally since he returned to the country.
The minister accused Baru of
insubordination and sidelining him and the board of the NNPC in the
award of contracts as well as failing to follow due process.
“Hopefully, the President will be
meeting the minister on Friday. The meeting is scheduled to hold before
Juma’at service. The meeting will hold between 11.30am and noon,” a
source in the Presidency told one of our correspondents on Thursday.
Another government official, however, told The PUNCH
that the meeting was originally conceived to afford Kachikwu the
opportunity of briefing the President of general developments in his
ministry.
The source added that although the
meeting could have been scheduled before the content of the letter was
made public, there was no way the President and the minister would meet
and the issue would not come up.
“You can see that the Minister of
Transportation met with the President today (on Thursday) to brief him
(the President) on the activities in his ministry. The Minister of Mines
and Steel Development also had his turn recently.
“That’s the same way Kachikwu was
scheduled to have his turn. But of course, there is no way this burning
issue will not be discussed at the meeting,” he said.
The source said he was not aware if Baru had been scheduled to meet the President any time soon.
Baru is one of the top government
officials who regularly participate in Juma’at service in a mosque
located inside the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
PDP alleges ‘brazen theft’ under Buhari, demands Baru’s suspension
Reacting to the face-off between the two
officials, the Peoples Democratic Party has called on Buhari to suspend
Baru immediately for the alleged $25bn contract award in the
corporation, which Kachikwu alleged did not have the input of the NNPC
board.
It also demanded that Baru be handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for investigation and prosecution.
The National Publicity Secretary of the
PDP, Mr. Dayo Adeyeye, stated this at a press conference at the party’s
national secretariat in Abuja on Thursday.
Adeyeye said the PDP was shocked with
what it described as revelations by Kachikwu concerning happenings in
his office and the NNPC.
He said it was absurd that Buhari had
refused to speak on the issue since the minister raised the matter in a
memo to him (Buhari) on August 30.
He stated, “The PDP wishes to express
its shock at the loud silence of President Muhammadu Buhari on the
humongous corruption scandal and other illegalities currently being
exposed at the nation’s cash cow, the NNPC, in which two of his
henchmen, Ibe Kachikwu and Maikanti Baru are the dramatis personae.
“As a political party, we expect that
the President, who prides himself as an indefatigable corruption
fighter, would, for once, try to live above board, by genuinely allowing
one of his own, accused of corruption, get properly investigated and
prosecuted as a show of his impartiality in the war against corruption.
“He should do this to correct the open
impression Nigerians have about his so-called anti-corruption war; that
it’s just a tool of persecution of perceived enemies.
“We view the allegations levelled
against Baru by Kachikwu as too grave to be swept under the carpet and
we insist that the NNPC GMD must be treated like an accused person who
should not have the opportunity to influence investigation into his
alleged misdeeds.
“In this light, we demand an immediate
suspension of the NNPC GMD so that proper investigation can be carried
out by the relevant anti-corruption agencies.”
Ordinarily, he said if there was
sincerity in the anti-corruption war, Buhari should not have waited for
any prompting before taking a decisive action on this matter.
He said the PDP suspected that Buhari
might be trying to shield Baru as he allegedly did for the suspended
Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal.
The former ruling party added, “The sum
involved in the NNPC scandal is $25bn. Less than 10 per cent of that
($2.1bn) is involved in the so-called arms fund allegedly converted by
the former National Security Adviser, for which hundreds of Nigerians
have been arrested and hounded. Nigerians can now see the hypocrisy in
the so-called anti-corruption fight.
“We may as well say that the privileged
class of All Progressives Congress members enjoys total immunity from
the anti-corruption campaign.
“Tired of this double-faced corruption
fight and cover-ups we demand an immediate commencement of investigation
into this latest exposed sleaze by another of President Buhari’s men.”
He wondered what Nigerians would be fed with when the APC was voted out of power in 2019.
N1.5bn scam: APC chieftain,ex-SUBEB chairman remanded in prison
He said, “We wonder what the stench will
be when the real and hidden atrocities being perpetrated under the
watch of President Buhari are finally exposed when Nigerians throw the
APC government out of power in 2019.
“The allegations raised by the minister
of state for petroleum resources are a confirmation of our earlier
stance that the APC administration is in tatters, an administration
without coordination, but one planted firmly in the hands of a few
cabal, stealing the nation dry while the President continues to feign
ignorance of the sickening stench.
“We suspect and our suspicion is
reinforced by the unfolding events that powerful people in the corridors
of power are tacitly involved in this.
“If the President’s powerful Chief of
Staff, Abba Kyari, could sit on the NNPC board and such a calamity is
taking place without an eyelid being blinked, we are forced to believe
that the stealing is being done to the advantage of the President, who
has shown by his body language that the only thing that matter most to
him for now, is his second term ambition.
“Will it be considered ‘hate speech’ if
we say the money being stolen by President Buhari’s men is being kept
aside into a special pool for the prosecution of his second term
ambition?”
Adeyeye challenged the President to
prove Nigerians wrong by allowing his allies being caught up in alleged
acts of “brazen stealing of our commonwealth,” to face punishment in
accordance with the laws of the land.
PDP making wild allegations, says APC
But the APC dismissed allegations by the
opposition PDP that the $25bn contracts awarded by the NNPC were to
raise funds for the APC to prosecute “Buhari’s second term ambition” in
the 2019 general elections.
The National Publicity Secretary of the
APC, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, while reacting to the PDP allegations in a
telephone interview on Thursday, said the opposition party was making
“wild and unsubstantiated” allegations.
Abdullahi told The PUNCH, “The
PDP spokesman is not speaking from a position of knowledge. He is making
wild allegations; if he has any evidence, he should provide it. If he
is unable to provide any evidence, we have reason to say he was just
making wild allegations.
“Number two, has President Buhari
declared that he is going to contest in 2019? Since he has not done so,
how did they come to the conclusion that such a thing is being done and
that it is for 2019?”
NLC demands thorough probe, SERAP seeks Baru’s prosecution
In its reaction, the President of the
Nigeria Labour Congress, Ayuba Wabba, has advised Buhari to ensure a
proper investigation of Kachikwu’s allegations against Baru.
Wabba, in an interview with journalists
in Abuja on Thursday, said Nigerians should have an opportunity to know
the facts of the issues raised by the minister.
He stated that the NLC had made it clear
that part of the challenges facing the country was how to imbibe the
process of good governance and transparency.
Wabba added, “Some of the issues border
on this critical idea of ensuring that there is good governance in
place. Our hope is that this issue will be thoroughly investigated and
concluded at the end of the day.
“Let us hear what the issues are as well
as the fact of the matter. Once we get the facts, we will then be able
to make conclusions.
“The normal thing to be done is for the
issue to be addressed through the normal process. Once this type of
information is thrown to the public, the normal thing is to have a
process through which these issues can be looked into.
“I am aware that the Senate is already
investigating the issue and so, the process of that investigation must
be concluded so that we can have the fact and be able to make meaningful
contributions.”
Also, the lawmaker, representing Kaduna
Central Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Senator Sheu Sani,
has advised the President to appoint a substantive minister of
petroleum resources.
Sani, who stated this on his tweeter handle on Thursday, said Buhari had limited time to attend to the ministry.
He added, “President Buhari should
disengage from being a Petroleum Minister and appoint a substantive
minister whom the nation can hold accountable to the happenings in the
nation’s oil industry.
“The President’s position as a minister
can drag him into issues in the oil sector of which he has limited time
to attend to. A broom immersed in oil cannot sweep clean.”
But a human rights advocacy group,
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, demanded the immediate
suspension of Baru for alleged abuse of office.
The group, in an open letter to Buhari
on Thursday, demanded that Baru should be immediately suspended and
referred to anti-corruption agencies for probe and possible prosecution.
SERAP, in its open letter to Buhari by
its Executive Director, Adetokunbo Mumuni, argued that Kachikwu’s
allegations against Baru qualified as grave breaches of the Corrupt
Practices and other related Offence Act of 2000; and the United Nations
Convention against Corruption, to which Nigeria is a signatory.
It said the allegations must not be
swept under the carpet, but must immediately be referred to the Economic
and Financial Crimes Commission or the Independent Corrupt Practices
and other related offences Commission for probe.
It said, “SERAP is concerned that years
of systemic corruption within the NNPC and looting of Nigeria’s natural
resources have had uneven consequences for the vulnerable groups of
society, including the poor, women and children, perpetrating and
institutionalising discrimination, and jeopardising the needs and
well-being of future generations. If left unaddressed, the allegations
by Dr. Kachikwu have the potential of undermining your government’s
expressed commitment to returning Nigeria to the path of transparency
and accountability.
“Rather than keeping silent on the
matter, we advise you to use this case to show to Nigerians that no form
of corruption will be tolerated in the NNPC under your watch.
“SERAP also believes the recommended
approach would help to address the growing public suspicion and
pessimism about your government’s ability to fight high-level official
corruption to a standstill, and to avoid any collateral consequences.”
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