Change and Stand Up for Nigeria (SUN) have issued a 72 hours ultimatum to
the Minister of State for Petroleum and NNPC GMD, Dr Ibe 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.
It would be recalled that Kachikwu who doubles as Group Managing Director
of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had said, in
reaction to public criticism of his handling of the fuel scarcity, that
Nigerians should count themselves fortunate that the NNPC under his
stewardship has been able to bring in the amount of fuel it is currently
doing.
The group described the 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. It stated that the statement by the Minister of State
that he was not trained as a magician is an admittance of his
incompetence.
The groups threatened to take to the street on Wednesday in “a mother of
all protest” in the nation’s capital to draw the attention of President
Muhammadu Buhari and members of the international community should the
minister refuse to resign.
The statement said, “Nigerians fought hard to vote in this government of
change. But to hear the minister say the kind of things he said is not
only insulting to Nigerians but showed his gross incompetence. Nigerians
will not tolerate such recklessness. In case the minister needs a
reminder, the era of incompetence is long gone with the previous
administration.
“Since he has admitted that he cannot restore normalcy to the current fuel
crisis, he should immediately resign his position. Indeed, Kachikwu was
not coerced to take this job. He accepted the job and its responsibilities
knowingly. He also must remember that he does not own NNPC. This also is
not a private company that owes nothing to the public except the duty of
fair dealing. He is a public servant. The seat he sits upon is owned by
Nigerians not by him.”
The group added that the fuel shortage is severely biting for the average
person and to hear the minister make such statement puts the Buhari
administration in bad light.