$25b Oil Scandal: Why You Must Suspend Kachikwu & Baru - YPP Advises President Buhari

Baru & Kachikwu

 

The Young Progressive Party (YPP) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to suspend the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu and the group managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Maikanti Baru over allegations insubordination and fraudulent award of contracts.The party said while corruption has been the bane of Nigeria's socio-economic and political development, Buhari has always been seen as someone with undeniable capacity to stop the corruption menace in the country.

 

The chairman of the party, Bishop Amakiri, said while Nigerians overwhelmingly voted for President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015, it has become clear that what the country needs are strong institutions and not strong individuals.

 

The YPP said the the allegations and counter allegations between Kachikwu, the NNPC and its GMD is one of too many events that have characterized the President Buhari-led administration since assuming office two years ago.

 

YPP said the zeal exhibited by the All Progressives Congress before the election seems to have fizzled out when its is most needed.

 

The party said: "While we have not entirely given up on the ability of the President to provide leadership especially in tackling this menace that has continued to constitute a clog in the wheel of our nation’s progress, the Young Progressive Party do hereby recommend in line with global governance best practices; the immediate suspension and investigation of the allegation and counter allegation of misappropriation and gross abuse of office against Dr. Maikanti Baru and Dr. Ibe Kachukwu in order to ascertain the level of culpability in the fraudulent award of contracts to the tune of $26 billion dollars without following due process by the former and the probe of the later tenure as GMD NNPC."

 

The party also called for the immediate appointment of a substantive minister of petroleum resources who can effectively see to the day to day running of the ministry and whom Nigerians can hold accountable for any breach of public trust, the immediate implementation of the report submitted by the presidential panel headed by the vice president set up to investigate the suspended secretary to the government of the federation, Babachir Lawal and the director general of the National Intelligence Agency, Ayo Oke.

 

YPP also urged President Buhari's administration to concentrate on building strong institutions that does not depend on any individual to fight corruption or drive good governance.

 

It said: "It is instructive that the above recommendations be strictly implemented in order for the present administration to gain back the confidence of majority of Nigerians who have come to see the ongoing anti-corruption war as selective and only targeted at anybody but members of the APC and the executive.

 

"Conclusively, we would like to congratulate the Super Eagles of Nigeria for qualifying for Russia 2018 against all odds and showing our leaders how to unite our people and that impossible is nothing if only we can shun our differences by uniting as a people in pursuit of a common goal of making Nigeria a better place not only for our generation but for generations yet unborn," YPP noted.