President Muhammadu Buhari has reportedly issued a warning to all chieftains of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC and his Ministers not to comment or take a side on the ongoing feud between the national leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu.
According to Punch Newspaper, there are strong indications that President Muhammadu Buhari has initiated moves to forestall the escalation of the festering feud between the All Progressives Congress National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr. Ibe Kachikwu.
Buhari, according to Punch Newspaper believed that Kachikwu’s statement and Tinubu’s criticisms could tear the party apart.
It was learnt that the President had therefore cautioned the APC chieftains and members of his cabinet against taking sides in comments and issues that could divide the party and derail his government.
A member of the cabinet, who confided in The PUNCH, said the President was of the view that any comment by the APC on the propriety or otherwise of Tinubu’s statement would divide the party and his government.
It was gathered that Buhari had told the minister that he should concentrate on how to end fuel scarcity before May, the time Kachikwu had proposed that there would be smooth fuel supply in the country.
The cabinet member stated, “I am aware that the President has moved in and cautioned ministers and party chieftains against divisive statements on the seeming feud between Tinubu and Kachikwu.
“At this time of the nation’s history, the President needs all the support of Nigerians. There should not be any distraction. The minister has been told that his main focus should be how to end fuel queues.”
Kachikwu had, in an interview with journalists in Abuja on Wednesday, said fuel queues could not be eliminated before May, adding that he was not a magician.
But Tinubu had, in a statement on Saturday, criticised the minister, saying Kachikwu’s position amounted to an act of insubordination to Nigerians, who voted public office-holders into their offices.
The National Secretariat of the APC on Monday kept mute over the controversy generated by Kachikwu on the fuel situation in the country, which was roundly condemned by Tinubu.
The National Chairman of APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, and the party’s National Secretary, Mai Mala Buni, could be reached for comments on Monday.
Calls to their mobile telephones indicated that they were switched off while responses to text messages sent to them were still being awaited as of the time of filing this report.
However, a source within the party said, “The statement by our revered leader is not ambiguous. I honestly don’t see any ambiguity; he issued the statement and signed it in his personal capacity.
“He, like every Nigerian, has every right to speak out when he sees anything going wrong in the polity; you cannot deny him that right.
“Besides, I understand that the matter is being handled at the highest level; it is an internal party affair.”
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