Nobody Should Accuse Buhari of Fraud – Kachikwu After Meeting With the President

Nobody Should Accuse Buhari of Fraud – Kachikwu After Meeting With the President

The minister of state for petroleum resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu on Friday said his leaked memo to President Muhammadu Buhari on governance issues at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has been largely misunderstood.

In his memo which was leaked to the press two weeks ago, Kachikwu accused the group managing director of the NNPC, Dr Maikanti Baru of insubordination and failure to follow due process in the award of oil contracts.

Kachikwu had also claimed that the NNPC under Baru awarded contracts to the tune of $26 billion without consulting with him as the minister overseeing the oil corporation or the NNPC board which he chairs. The NNPC boss however denied that he was legally required to consult with Kachikwu before awarding the contracts.

In reaction to the leak, a section of the population has accused the presidency of being behind Baru’s alleged insubordination and further accused President Buhari of condoning corruption. The minister has however refuted claims that the president was corrupt.

Speaking for the first time about the details of his meeting with President Buhari after the leaked memo went viral, Kachikwu told his audience at a workshop on Nigerian Content organised by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), that the content of his letter did not border on fraud but on governance.

Kachikwu at the workshop in Owerri, Imo state, said, “The conversation has been largely misunderstood to bother on fraud. It was not on fraud, but on governance and suggestions on ways to go about it. I think a lot of people got it wrong.

“People dwell much on issues of sensationalism and leave the main substance. The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Dr. Maikanti Baru, and I are working together as Mr. President had directed to move forward.”

“Mr. President has urged the two of us to find ways of working together to remove doubt and rift.” He added.

The Punch reports that the petroleum minister further described the president as “a decent man” who is desirous of leaving a legacy for posterity.

“He is a sincere leader, so nobody should accuse him of engaging in fraud,” Kachikwu said.