The minister of State for Petroleum, Dr Ibe Kachikwu is said to be considering tendering his resignation to President Muhammed Buhari, even as it has been revealed that the President has backed the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in their now-public clash.
Buhari, according to The Nation, felt scandalised by “unfounded allegations of corruption bordering on phantom $25billion contracts”.
President Buhari, who is said to have felt hurt, by the development, “refused to act on the spur of the moment because his image and the reputation of his administration were involved”.
A top government source said: “The Presidency directed the GMD of NNPC to provide facts and figures, which it got from Baru.
“Thereafter, the NNPC Act, the NNPC Handbook and Public Procurement Act were consulted on the responses of Baru to find out if infractions were committed by the corporation.
“Having been convinced that there were no infractions, the Presidency then directed NNPC to lay the cards on the table for Nigerians to see and judge.
“What was uppermost in the responses of the GMD was the fact that ‘there was no evidence of sharp practices, bribery, looting of funds and diversion of transaction cash’.
“The allegations of Kachikwu were rated as ‘wild, intentional and political in nature’ against the administration he is serving.”
Sources close to Kachikwu say he is considering resigning in order to preserve his integrity, even as pundits are calling the NNPC under the Buhari administration as corrupt as the Diezani Madueke led institution.