Politics
Kachikwu recants, apologizes for magician comment
After a barage of criticism from several quarters, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, Tuesday, apologised to Nigerians for his statement that he is not a magician and that the crippling fuel scarcity across the nation will continue till the end of May.
Kachikwu had said while fielding questions from reporters: “One of the trainings I did not receive is that of a magician, but I am working very hard to ensure some of these issues go away.
“So it is quite frankly sheer magic that we even have the amount of product at the stations.”
Several Nigerians and organizations, including the National Leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, frowned at Kachikwu’s statement, while others called for his resignation.
However at a meeting with the Senate Committee on Petroleum on Tuesday, Kachikwu apologised for his remarks, and assured that fuel queues will disappear across the nation by April.
Read also: Amidst pains, Buhari moves to tackle fuel scarcity
According to the minister, though fuel scarcity may end by April, Nigerians would still hqve to wait till May to have a major turn arround in the availability of the products.
He also explained that there is no immediate solution to the fuel scarcity, because 90 per cent of Nigerian depots were not functional.
“Most fuel products into Nigeria come from Europe and it takes 14 days for fuel to land here,” he said.
Speaking on ways to make the depots perform maximally, Kachikwu said government was on the verge of engaging consultants to mange the depots.
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