A group, The Conscience of the Niger, TCN, has described report accusing the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu of fraud, as not only unfounded but a confirmation that powerful forces were trying to bring him down.
According to TCN, the report trying to smear the good image of the Minister has it that he had been using his younger brother, Dumebi Kachikwu as front in many deals, adding that he allegedly collected N3.8billion in exchange for a marginal oil field in the Niger Delta.
In a statement signed and made available to DAILY POST on Thursday by TCN leader, Mitai Okeroghene, the group said the attempt to discredit Kachikwu was an advanced and well-intended plot by some persons within the corridors of power, who had become uncomfortable with some of the feats he had recorded in the ministry.
The statement reads, “First, there were no marginal fields granted by Kachikwu or anyone since the Muhammadu Buhari administration came on board and as such, the allegations remain the figment of the imagination of those behind the attacks against Kachikwu.
“But unfortunately for them, a man of Dr. Kachikwu’s standing, who did so much to institute transparency in the oil sector and with enviable international pedigree could not succumb to such corruption rascality. So, those trying aimlessly to blemish the person and credibility of the minister need a review of strategy.
“One would have expected that people, who believe in the veracity of their accusations, would rather show their faces by taking a direct report to the appropriate agencies with sufficient facts to carry out its investigation. Indeed, the whistleblowing policy of the federal government creates an incentive for this, so, why resort to blogs to blackmail the minister.
“We are not unaware that all these attacks are not unconnected to the purported cabinet reshuffle and until the planned reshuffling is over, these faceless jobbers, whose whole lives revolve around corruption and blackmail, will continue to target Dr. Kachikwu for being too drastic in his resolve to salvage the oil industry.”
Okeroghene added that the, “attacks on Dr. Kachikwu are the orchestrations by some powerful persons in the system and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), who are determined to see that Kachikwu is shown the way out, because they are uncomfortable with his cutting-edge reforms in the ministry.”
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