Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, has called on the federal government to find and punish prominent Nigerians linked to oil theft in the country.
Mele Kyari, group chief executive officer of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), had revealed on Tuesday that highly placed Nigerians, including religious, community leaders and government officials were fully involved in crude oil theft.
Kyari disclosed this when he featured at the ministerial briefing organised by the Presidential Communications Team at the State House.
He said the entire network of pipelines for petroleum products distribution in the country had been deliberately shut down as a result of the activities of vandals and also because the refineries were not operating as a business but incurring losses.
Reacting to the statement on Twitter Wednesday, Obi said: “I am struck and intrigued by the news report linking highly placed Nigerians to oil theft; same as been the case with financing terrorism and Boko Haram. When would the FGN summon the political will to summon such persons?
“In the national interest, there should be no sacred cows.”
In a series of tweets on the strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Obi lamented the federal government’s inability to resolve the issue, stressing that the continued strike was detrimental to students across the country.
He said: “It’s gratifying that our governors have undertaken to mediate on the lingering ASUU strike. This is propitious and a remarkable show of leadership. Hopefully, such direct constructive engagement will bring this strike to an end soonest.
“Our position is that ASUU strike has lingered for far too long. It is unconscionable, worrisome and unacceptable that FGN would allow such an industrial action to become almost intractable to the detriment of our students. It’s time for FGN to engage in collaborative negotiations with ASUU, and in good faith.”
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