Kachikwu’s removal as NNPC GMD: Group berates Buhari for acting script of saboteurs

A group, the Niger Delta Indigenous Movement For Radical Change, has berated President Muhammadu Buhari for the removal of Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu as the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.
The group claimed that President acted the scripts of desperate people and saboteurs in the NNPC.
It said the former Group Executive Director, Exploration and Production of the  Corporation, Dr. Maikanti Kacalla Baru, who replaced Kachikwu, has been desperate for the job.
The group alleged that Northern interests, led by Baru, have been mounting pressure on Buhari to remove Kachikwu for over a month now.
In a press statement by its President, Nelly Emma; Secretary, John Sailor; and Public Relations Officer, Stanley Mukoro, made available to newsmen on Thursday, the group frowned at the sudden removal of Kachikwu as the GMD of NNPC, describing it as unfair not only to the hard-working technocrat, but to the entire people of the neglected oil rich Niger Delta Region.
The statement said: “The whole world is our witness that we raised the alarm in April this year that Dr Maikanti Baru was desperate to be the GMD of NNPC and was mounting pressure on the President to sack Kachikwu and now we have been vindicated.
“We are sad over the unfair treatment of Dr Kachikwu by the President. The former GMD was committed to the total reforms of NNPC of which Dr Baru was against.
“By the sacking of the hard-working Dr Kachikwu at this critical time and replacing him with a desperate Dr Baru, it is now clear to us as a group and the whole world that the President is not serious about his promise to turn NNPC around for the better.”
The group alleged that the appointment of Baru by the President is not in the best interest of the nation, but to satisfy the interest of the North.
It said the sudden removal of Kachikwu as GMD has raised concerns among stakeholders in the region that the administration of President Buhari has remained adamantly unresponsive to the accusations by the militants.
The group disclosed that last April, it had revealed that Baru, then the Adviser On Gas to the GMD of NNPC, was behind a devilish rumour that Kachikwu was sacked, adding that Baru has been very desperate to become the GMD of NNPC and “we warned President Buhari to be wary of him, but the President never listened.
“It is unfortunate that the people of the oil-rich Niger Delta Region are being treated this way. Dr Kachikwu brought alot of changes into NNPC and the Cabal in the Oil and Gas Industry never liked him and rather than encouraging him to do more for the sector, the President decided to do otherwise.
“The President has once again made a big blunder with the appointment of Dr Baru who never wanted the reforms of NNPC  embarked upon by Dr Kachikwu, the group alleged.
“Without apology, we want to say that Dr Baru do not mean well for the Corporation. He is a spoiler and  has been too desperate to become the GMD of the NNPC.
“Dr Baru has never liked the reforms in NNPC and such a desperate man should not have been allowed to head NNPC as he will ruin the place that Dr Kachikwu worked so hard to fix up. Dr Baru is not the best man for the job, they reiterated.
“Only last month, the hard-working Dr Kachikwu against threat to his life and that of members of his family took a risky trip to the troubled Niger Delta Region to see things for himself at the controversial Nigerian Maritime University, Okerenkoko, Gbaramatu Kingdom, in Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State and his visit brought hope to the hopeless people of the region.
“His trip to the area also helped to reduce the spate of attacks on oil facilities by rampaging militants.
“The President should have honoured Dr Kachikwu for his hardwork. We must say that we are disappointed with the choice the President made for the NNPC.
“Can Dr Baru take a trip to the Niger Delta Region? As the new GMD of NNPC, can he plead with rampaging militants in the Niger Delta Region to give peace a chance and they will listen to him?
“The choice of Dr Baru as the man at the helm of affairs in NNPC by the President is not the best.
“As an oil monitoring group, we are highly disappointed that the President decided to at this crucial time leave the affairs of the NNPC in the hands of  Dr Baru who helped to destroy the Corporation.
“We are not impressed that President Buhari in his bid to satisfy Northern Nigeria with more juicy positions at the detriment of the oil producing people of the Niger Delta Region left the affairs of NNPC in the hands of a desperate Dr Baru who will only sit in the comfort of his office in Abuja without thinking about the pains the oil producing people of the Niger Delta Region are passing through.”