Right after Bola Tinubu’s heavy criticism of Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) have added their voice to the issue and have also called for the Minister of Petroleum Resources, to honourably resign his position from President Muhammadu Buhari’s led government if he is not capable of doing his part by efficiently running the Ministry assigned to him and providing a workable solution to the current fuel scarcity in the country.
Meanwhile, the party is silent on what it expects of President Muhammadu Buhari who himself is the Minister of Petroleum.
The party said it is high time Kachikwu climb down from “his high horse to face squarely the duties required of him by his office, as responsibility to the people is one of the cardinal points of the APC which he declared membership.”
In a statement signed by the APC national vice chairman, South-south, Prince Hilliard Eta, the party alleged that “Kachikwu has not entirely cast off the orientation of the Peoples Democratic Party where he was”, adding that such is still manifesting in his actions and statements such as the recent one that attracted opprobrium from many Nigerians.
“In the light of the foregoing, Mr. Kachikwu must not be a cog in the wheel of progress and he should do the needful by resigning honourably if he is not capable of doing his part by efficiently running the Ministry assigned to him”.
While denying that there was major rift in the party, APC said: “It is important to reiterate here that winning the federal election in 2015 has not eroded the core ideology of progressivism which we espouse as it is the very foundation on which the party rest.
“This progressive ideology strongly emphasises government as a tool for service to the people who are the custodians of power in the first instance. In line with this, it is not wrong or out of place for Tinubu to call the Minister of State for petroleum, Mr. Ibe Kachikwu to order owing to the anti-progressive statements he made in the Presidential Villa on Wednesday 23 March 2016 while fielding questions from Journalists on the persisting scarcity of petrol.”