‘My petition against NNPC boss, Maikanti Baru, wasn’t about fraud, it was misunderstood’ Ibe Kachikwu says

Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, yesterday spoke for the first time about his meeting with President Buhari on his petition against the group managing director of NNPC, Maikanti Baru. Recall that Kachikwu in a petition dated August 30th addressed to President Buhari, accused Baru of insubordination and awarding a $25billion contract without due process. On October 6th, President Buhari had a meeting with Kachikwu over the petition and after the meeting, the Minister refused to disclose to state house correspondents the outcome of the meeting.

However, Kachikwu yesterday broke his silence and spoke on the outcome of his meeting with President Buhari. According to him, President Buhari asked him to go back and continue to work with Baru so as to clear any doubt and rift. He also added that his petition was misunderstood by many Nigerians. He spoke to newsmen at the end of a three-day Nigerian content workshop organized by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board in Imo.

“The conversation has been largely misunderstood to border 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 Nigeria 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. Mr. President is a decent man and what he wants to achieve in this country is to live a legacy for posterity. He is a sincere leader, so nobody should accuse him of engaging in fraud.” he said