‘Gang in NNPC trying to frustrate Buhari, Kachikwu,’ Kashamu says

Senator Buruji Kashamu has said that Nigeria is experiencing fuel scarcity due to attempts by a gang in theNigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to frustrate the efforts of President Muhammadu Buhari and Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu to revamp the sector.

Kashamu also dismissed claims that Buhari’s anti-corruption war is only aimed at members of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP).

The Senator made the comments during a recent interview with Vanguard. Excerpts below:

On how to end the recurring fuel scarcity problem

Nigeria is experiencing the consequences of the destructive tendencies and policies of past administrations that failed to act responsibly by dangerously creating the impression that Nigeria was making progress.

The current attempts to revamp the sector are being sabotaged by remnants of that clique at the NNPC and its depots who are determined to continue selling products above approved official rates.

While Mr. President and the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources are working hard to reposition the oil sector, there is a clique that is hell-bent on frustrating their efforts. They ask the oil marketers to pay the official rate of N75 per litre into the officially-designated accounts and then pay a difference of between N30 and N35 per litre into a private account or bring it in cash.

It is only those who cooperate with them that they allocate products. When the difference is added to the official rate, it shoots the price up to over N100 per litre.

To solve this problem, I think the allocation of petroleum products should be centralized, and the EFCC should be empowered to investigate transactions between the depots and oil marketers and scrutinize their finances in a bid to fish out unjustifiable funds.

Henceforth, there should be a verifiable census of all marketers, who are eligible for allocations and such allocations should be made from the office of the Minister in Abuja. This will be a replication of the BVN in the oil sector.

On comments that the anti-corruption war is targeted against members of the PDP

I am shocked and embarrassed by comments that the trial of the people who allegedly  misappropriated money that was meant to buy weapons in the war against insurgency is a political witch-hunt of members of my party, the PDP.

The masterminds of that crime wanted the war to escalate and if that had happened unchecked, the insurgency would have spread to other regions of the federation. The insurgents were already violating the peace of Abuja with tragic bombings and it would have been just a matter of time for states like Kogi, Edo, Ondo and Ekiti that are just a couple of hours away from Abuja to be affected.

As of today, our security agencies have succeeded in weakening and pushing back the Boko Haram elements. President Buhari has his work clearly cut out for him because this ongoing fight against corruption must be consistently fought until Nigeria is free from the menace of corruption.

This fight must be fought at all cost because it is the fight for the soul and future of our great country. Political parties continually engage in fund raising and it is difficult to know the difference between money that was raised from such an exercise and money that was stolen from the treasury. Only those in government knew the true sources of the funds that they disbursed.