By Omoniyi Salaudeen
IT is not only strange but also amazing that the Minister of State for Petroleum and Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Coorporation (NNPC), Dr Ibe Kachikwu, does not live in official quarters but operates from a rented apartment and also drives a private car. Perhaps, that is his own way of cutting the cost of goverance. This revealation is coming from a group of concerned citizens who see those criticising the minister for alleged ostentatious lifestyle as a mere distraction.
A group under the aegis of ‘Coalition for Change’ based in Edo State has disclosed that Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum is still using his personal property to run his office in Abuja despite his status.
The group’s reaction followed an advertorial published in several newspapers by a certain oil company, Oil Mogul Nigeria Limited, accusing Kachikwu of living an ostentatious lifestyle contrary to the avowed policy of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to cut the cost of governance. The group stated that: “Dr Kachikwu does not own or operate a private jet; neither has he hired one since assumption of office.
He is sometimes availed the use of logistic resources by the international oil companies to support the efficiency of his activities as minister. And this is at no cost to the Federal Government of Nigeria unlike what operated in the previous regime.”
The group also claimed that Dr Kachikwu is still living in a personal rented apartment since he assumed office and driving his personal car.
“Dr Kachikwu is not a saint but he must be left alone to do his job. Managing the oil sector is not a tea party. He needs all the concentration required for the job,” the group concluded.
Kachikwu has been accused by some media reports that he flew in the Bombardier luxury private jets with cozy interior which belongs to VistaJet Holding SA, a Swiss charter airline that has satellite facilities in some countries of the world, including Nigeria, along with the governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele. But in a quick reaction, the concerned group dismissed the allegation as unfounded. In a related development, the NNPC Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Garba Deen, has also disclosed that neither the ministry nor the national oil firm had spent a dime as payment for the services of VistaJet since Kachikwu came on board. He clarified that the NNPC had about 60 per cent stake in various joint ventures, adding that the partners in the JV agreements were responsible for the payment of the services rendered by the private airline.