Northern youths, under the auspices of Arewa Intergrity Youth Forum, have taken a swipe at the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, over his comments on the Minister of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu over the lingering fuel crisis in the country.
Tinubu had condemned the recent statement credited to Kachikwu to the effect that he could not perform magic for the fuel scarcity to go away soon.
The youths, while addressing newsmen in Abuja yesterday, expressed support for the ongoing reforms in the oil sector, noting that the advent of Kachikwu has cleansed the sector of hawks which have over the years held the industry hostage.
Speaking on behalf of the group, the Coordinator, Mallam Ibrahim Abubakar, expressed dismay over the comments credited to Tinubu who had earlier in the beginning of the administration advised Nigerians to be patient with the government, which it said was trying to undo damage caused by the previous administration.
According to Abubakar, Nigerians perfectly understand the current situation in the supply and distribution of fuel to reach everyone and this is the major reason there has not been any form of protest or uprising as was done in the past. He therefore warned that any attempt to trigger Nigerians to embark on any mass action would be rejected by the people.
The group alleged plot to return the country to the era of the “dismantled cabal” to continue the looting of the oil sector, at a time when the ruling APC is begging for funding to move the party forward. It warned Tinubu to steer clear of the petroleum sector, alleging that all his actions point to the fact that he intends to discredit the good works of Kachikwu in order to instigate his sack thereby making way for him to plant a stooge as experienced in the previous years.
“Kachikwu has brought sanity into the oil sector, which is what is first needed to engineer development in any sector particularly, that the present administration inherited a messy economy whose only cell is oil revenue,” the Arewa youths said.
Also, the Niger Delta Indigenous Movement For Radical Change (NDIMRC) lamented Tinubu’s comments on Kachikwu, alleging that the former Lagos State governor was out to blackmail the minister over oil blocs.
In a joint statement in Warri, Delta State yesterday by its President, Nelly Emma, Secretary, John Sailor and Public Relations Officer (PRO), Stanley Mukoro, the group accused Tinubu of being one of those working against the reorganisation of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), and stoppage of fuel Importation into the country.
