…Says Minister Cancelled Contact For Jet Hiring On Assumption Of Office

By Francis Sadhere

THE Niger Delta Indigenous Movement For Radical Change (NDIMRC) has dismissed allegation against the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Emmanuel Kachikwu that he uses Private Jet at the expense of the State,saying the Minister cancelled contact for hiring Jet on assumption of office.

Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, Minister for Petroleum (State).

Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, Minister for Petroleum (State).

The Minister came under fresh attack recently when he was accused of using Private Jet like the former Petroleum Resources Minister, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke.

But in a press statement by its President, Nelly Emma; Secretary, John Sailor and Public Relations Officer (PRO), Stanley Mukoro, the group said it was not true that the Minister uses Private Jet at the expense of the State.

“Our findings have shown that the Minister is not using Private Jet as being accused by frustrated fraudulent subsidy claimers. We want to let those faceless groups and individuals accusing the Minister of using Private Jet  to know that their information is not correct because to show he is prudent, Dr Kachikwu on assumption of office as the GMD and Minister cancelled all contracts for hiring Private Jet for Petroleum Minister and at the moment, contracts of hiring Private Jet no longer exist. This accusation is not unconnected with the total reforms carried out in NNPC by the hard-working Minister. We want the general public to know that the former Group Executive Directors (GEDs) of NNPC affected by the reforms and the fraudulent subsidy claimers are behind this baseless accusation”,the group said.

It added that;” We have repeatedly said it that those being hurt by the reforms of the Minister in the Oil and Gas Industry are doing everything to give him a bad name, hence they came out and accused him that he uses Private Jet at the expense of the State, this allegation is laughable, baseless, mischievous and a pure lie against an innocent man.”

Writing further, the group said that; “Dr Kachikwu is not a man of wastage and has not tried to abuse his positions as a Minister and the GMD of NNPC. The Dr Kachikwu that we know is a prudent person and patriotic citizen unlike his accusers and their sponsors.”

The group stated that; “This is a man who until he was made the GMD of NNPC and Minister of State for Petroleum Resources by our visionary President, was the Africa Vice Chairman of ExxonMobil and he could have been jetting all over the place, but he never allowed anything to get into his head as he remained calm, prudent and calculated. Others would have done otherwise.”

According to the group; “The two positions Dr Kachikwu is holding are very demanding and without using Private Jet, he has achieved alot since his appointment. Without Private Jet, he has crisscrossed the length and breadth of the country to check the diversion of Petroleum Products and vandalism and it is the success of his numerous achievements that is giving his accusers who have been feeding fat on Oil Subsidy sleepless nights and doing everything to pull down a God sent man in order to have their way, but it is our prayer that by the grace of God, they will never succeed because Dr Kachikwu is on a divine mission”.

” The Minister has resisted the temptation of using Private Jet at the expense of the State because he knows that the Nigerian economy at the moment is not smiling and wastage is not in his character, hence the cancellation of the contract for the hiring of Private Jet and it is therefore laughable for the Minister to be accused of using Private Jet at the expense of the State”,the group stated.

The group alerted Nigerians that in the days ahead, those calling for the sack of the Minister and peddling terrible lies against him are going to sponsor more negative write-ups against him, but warned that; “We are not going to accept the campaign of hate against the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources who is pained about the suffering of Nigerians as a result of the fuel scarcity that is now abating across the country as promised by the Minister. We wish to state here that enough is enough.”