NEWS:“Nigerian people were right to feel insulted” Bola Tinubu on Ibe Kachikwu’s Fuel Statement
The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has lashed out on the Minister of State for Petroleum, Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, over his recent comments on the lingering fuel scarcity in the country which aggravated the fuel crisis.
He did this on Saturday in a statement
titled, ‘Kachikwu needs to know that respect and good performance will
do what magic cannot’, where he pointed out that the minister’s comments
on the fuel scarcity were not only disrespectful but were out of line.
The minister had stated last week while
speaking with State House correspondents in Abuja that since he was not a
magician, the fuel queues could not be eliminated with a magic wand and
that it was by sheer magic that the country had the amount of products
it currently had in filling stations.
Tinubu, however, reacted in his
statement that the minister “was basically telling Nigerians that they
should be lucky that they are getting the inadequate supply they now
suffer and that they should just be quiet and endure the shortage for
several weeks more.”
The former Lagos State Governor
continued, “Perhaps the statement by Kachikwu was made in a moment of
unguarded frustration or was an awkward attempt at a joke. Whatever the
motive, it was untimely and off-putting. The remark did not sit well
with the Nigerian people; they were as right to feel insulted, as the
Minister was wrong to have said such a thing. The fuel shortage is
severely biting for the average person. They are forced to remain in
lines far too long, for too much time, to pay too much money for too
little fuel. This is no joking matter. Livelihoods and people’s welfare
are at stake. With so much on the line, Kachikwu’s flippancy was
out-of-line …”
He added, “Kachikwu’s intervention was
unhelpful. It panicked and disappointed the public as to the duration of
the crisis. It insulted the people by its tonality. He spoke with the
imperious nature of a member of the elitist government the people voted
out last year and not the progressive one they voted in. Kachikwu must
be reminded that he 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 further said that since Kachikwu is a
public servant and the seat he occupies is not owned by him but by
Nigerians, he is answerable to them, adding that the minister should
“refrain from such interjections in the future.” He emphasized his
confidence in President Buhari and his government in resolving pressing
issues, including security and the economy and concluded, “Let all of
us, in and out, of government never forget this. If we adhere to this
remembrance, we shall see that magic will not be needed to bring the
progress we seek.”
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