Abuja – National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olisa Metuh, said on Monday that it was immediate past President Goodluck Jonathan, and not President Muhammadu Buhari, who discovered the current Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu.

Metuh said Jonathan was preparing Kachikwu as a replacement for ex-petroleum minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, who headed the ministry till last May.

Metuh made the claims in a Channels Television discussion programme, SunriseDaily, monitored in Abuja.

The PDP spokesman, who was reacting to the decision of Buhari to supervise the Petroleum Ministsery, said that the NNPC helmsman was not a new discovery by the president.

Metuh said that the party would closely monitor Buhari as the minister of petroleum and would not hesitate to expose any wrongdoing in the oil industry under the president.

Metuh said: The PDP under Jonathan discovered the incumbent group managing director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), over two years ago.

“Ibe Kachikwu was supposed to be Minister of Petroleum under PDP two years ago; he is not a new discovery.

“If the President handles the petroleum industry and does anything dishonest, we will expose him and tell Nigerians,” Metuh said.”

The publicist said that his party was committed to constructive criticism and not unnecessary opposition of every government policy.

“The style we are bringing is constructive criticisms because the essence is not about winning. It is about serving the people. We want to serve the Nigerian people – that is why we are in politics.

“When we were in government, the then opposition government (APC) did certain things that were indecent and not good for the progress or unity of our country.

“Anytime there was a terrorist attack on the country, we had lots of condemnation of the government and it made the terrorists emboldened. The insurgents were dividing us along ethnic and religious lines and the APC was promoting it.

“As an opposition party, we have decided that we will not adopt the same tactics. We have not abused Mr. President; we do not abuse his office. We limit ourselves to issues, providing alternatives and options to his policies and programmes, although we haven’t seen any yet.”

He said the PDP had no problem with the people he had chosen as his ministers, knowing fully well they those he could vouch for and where their strength and capacity lies.

But he frowned at the delay in choosing the ministers early enough to make way for the smooth running of the country.

“At this time, we are still discussing ministers as if it’s a big deal,” the PDP spokesman said.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/10/jonathan-was-preparing-kachikwu-as-diezanis-replacement-pdp/

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