From: Paul Osuyi, Asaba
The Delta State chapter of All Progressive Congress (APC), on Thursday, came hard on the Niger Delta Coalition (NDC) for accusing the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, and his counterpart in the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, Nguru Usani, of complicity in the renewed threat by the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) to resume hostilities in the region.
The party said it was already initiating a disciplinary action against the leader of NDC, Mr. Young Piro, who is a member of the party, for failure to honour an invitation by the State Working Committee (SWC) to substantiate his allegations against Kachikwu and Usani.
Piro had, in Abuja, alleged that Usani, Kachikwu and the Director General of the Amnesty Programme, Gen. Paul Boroh, were patronising and encouraging militancy in the region, accusing them of being the masterminds of the recent threat by NDA to end its ceasefire with a view to causing unrest in the oil and gas sector and take the nation’s economy back into recession.
But chairman of APC in Delta State, Jones Erue, described the allegation as ‘unfortunate’ which the party took exception to, adding that the Federal Government appointees had always stood for peace in the region, and vouched that they would not be part of anything that will bring unrest to the area.
Erue told journalists, in Asaba, Delta State capital, that the said Piro resorted to cheap blackmail against Kachikwu after he failed to get favour through the back door.
In the words of Erue, “We know that this faceless group, NDC and its faceless leader, Young Piro are constantly harassing the minister seeking one favour or the other. And since they could not get it through the back door, they have resorted to attacking personalities. The party frowns at this and we will no longer tolerate it.
“I want to let you know that we immediately invited the said Young Piro to appear before the SWC to explain why he should not be sanctioned for standing down the truth and using blackmail to defame personalities from the region. But he refused to show up because he knows what he has done.
“If I may borrow the words of Mr. President, he has crossed the red line. And since he disrespected the party, we want to initiate a suspension order, a disciplinary action will follow. We will follow the constitutional order in this matter because anything that brings disrepute to the party is anti-party.”
Erue, who was livid with anger, called on security agencies to investigate the said Piro and his group to ascertain where he got his information from upon which he made such weighty allegations against the Federal Government appointees.