Calls for President Bola Tinubu to resign as Petroleum Minister are being fueled by the ongoing crisis in the oil industry.
Nigerians have yet to see stability in the sector, even after the abrupt elimination of the fuel subsidy on the day the president took office.
On Wednesday, Tinubu crushed the hopes of a number of Nigerians who were calling for changes in the petroleum ministry.
President Bola Tinubu authorized the dismissal of five ministers who were seen to be performing below expectations during the 19th Federal Executive Council meeting held at the State House in Abuja on Wednesday, marking a major cabinet reorganization.
Additionally, Tinubu recommended seven additional ministerial appointees for further screening and confirmation by the Nigerian Senate and reassigned ten ministers to new ministries.
But before the upheavals, Tinubu was urged to step down as Petroleum Minister by stakeholders and a few CSOs.
In order to guarantee openness in the oil industry, the president was also asked to fire a few influential members of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, or NNPCL.
Calls for inquiries into the industry were sparked by the scandals surrounding the withdrawal and purported reinstatement of fuel subsidies as well as the NNPCL’s failure to revitalize the local refineries following a string of broken promises.
After around six delays, the Port Harcourt Refinery, which is managed by the NNPCL in Rivers State, was unable to start up in August of this year.
The Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and NNPCL repeatedly broke their promises to Nigerians over the running of the refinery.
Despite the “$1.5 billion approved in 2021 for the Port Harcourt Refinery and an additional $1.4 billion for the Warri and Kaduna refineries,” the facilities have not yet been put into service, according to a Friday complaint from the Energy Reforms Advocates of Nigeria, the All Progressives Congress, and the APC Youth Vanguard for Change.
Some stakeholders, who expressed surprise at Tinubu’s failure to restructure the oil industry, stated in separate interviews over the weekend that unless the president steps down as minister, adequate oversight and inquiry into suspected sharp practices within the NNPCL may be nearly impossible.
Tinubu ought to voluntarily step down as minister, according to former VON DG Osita Okechukwu.
Mr. Osita Okechukwu, the Voice of Nigeria’s immediate former Director General, stated that it would be strategically advantageous if President Tinubu willingly vacates the office of Petroleum Minister.
The ministry’s Coordinating Policy Unit, led by Hadiza Bala Usman, cannot possibly “monitor or even take a cursory glance at the Petroleum Ministry as it would amount to supervising her principal, the President,” according to an argument made in an interview with Osita.
“The failure to make any of the country’s four refineries functional made Nigerians lose faith in democracy,” added Osita, a founding member of the All Progressives Congress, or APC.
He claims that the nation has “generated hunger and multidimensional poverty” as a result of the local refining facilities’ non-operation.
“Nigeria has also experienced significant economic losses over the years due to wasting more than $70 billion on imported refined petroleum products and undue imbalance on the country’s foreign exchange earnings”, he added.
The APC chieftain urged Tinubu to “complete the reshuffle process by relinquishing the post of Minister of Petroleum Resources as a matter of urgent national importance.
“This step would go a long way to stem, if not weed out the buccaneer antics of the less than transparent Oil Mafia”.
You can’t be president and Minister at the same time – HURIWA to Tinubu
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, has also frowned at President Tinubu’s decision to remain Minister of Petroleum, saying it does not make any logical sense for a president to also occupy a minister’s office.
In an interview with HURIWA’s National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko said in a place where things are done correctly, “it is completely inappropriate” for Tinubu to be Petroleum Minister.
He said, “Ideally, President Tinubu is not supposed to have another appointment outside his presidential office. It is not correct for a country’s president to still occupy the position of Minister.
“It doesn’t make any logical sense. Aside from the issue of allowing for investigation in the sector, in a place where things are done right, the president is not supposed to have a ministerial position attached to his office. It is completely inappropriate”.
Speaking on the cabinet reshuffling, Onwubiko said the “minor changes that happened in the cabinet is not enough to make any serious impact in the nation’s economy.
“The president did not reduce the number of ministers. This won’t have any significant role in reducing the cost of governance. About 75 percent of the entire ministerial cabinet ought to be moved out.
“Removing just five when you know that half of the cabinets need to go, will not make any difference”.
His position is shielding evil in the sector – PDP chieftain, Aondoakaa
Similarly, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party in Benue State, Dr Aondoakaa Theophilus said President Tinubu’s position is “shielding evils in the oil sector”.
According to the former council chairman, “The reason why no action has been taken against the NNPCL is because Tinubu is in charge.
“It will be difficult to investigate a president when he is still in power, so what is happening in the sector is that his position is shielding the corruption going on in the NNPCL.
“As it is right now, investigating the petroleum ministry is like investigating activities in Aso Rock.
“The president is in charge. His position in the sector has also crippled the lawmakers. Nobody would want to investigate a ministry that the president is heading.
“Tinubu should resign as a matter of urgency. He should find a competent Nigerian to head the sector so that he can be focused on governance. I don’t want to believe that there is something he is benefiting from”.
However, Mr Jerry Adakwu, a public affairs analyst said that “the ministry is too sensitive for Tinubu to give to someone else”.
“President Tinubu wasn’t the first president to be in that position. Former President, Mohammed Buhari also appointed himself as Petroleum Minister.
“I don’t think his position is having a detrimental effect on the industry. However, he stated that the president should not be hesitant to dismiss anyone who has been entangled in the web of corruption.
Bayo Onanuga, President Tinubu’s Special Advisor on Information and Strategy, stated on Sunday that his principal has never claimed the title of Petroleum Minister.
According to Onanuga, President Tinubu oversees two ministers in the Petroleum Ministry.
This was revealed by the presidential spokesperson during an appearance on Politics Today on Channels Television.
“The President has never referred to himself as the Petroleum Minister; the media does that.
“As far as this President is concerned, we have two ministers: one of whom concentrates on gas, and the other on petroleum.
Nigeria is more of a gas country than an oil country, and this government has previously found that this area was neglected; President Tinubu is concentrating on gas.
Obasanjo recently stated that he erred in his tenure by failing to prioritize gas, and Tinubu is making amends by ensuring that we do just that.
“The president is in charge of everything; he oversees all of his ministers,” he said.
