Claims that the Minister of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu, masterminded the fuel crisis to undermine the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Maikantu Baru, has been put to the lie.
Speculation had mounted that Kachikwu and Baru were embroiled in a dispute and the former was fanning the embers of resentments in the oil sector to create problem for the former, and portray him as incompetent.
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The rumour mill went into overdrive following the fuel scarcity.
But the suspension of the strike by Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) less than 24 hours after it began an industrial action over sack of its members by Neconde Oil has put the lie to the claim.
Sources said Kachikwu was the linchpin in all the peace meetings that culminated in Neconde Oil recalling the sacked oil workers.
In a statement PENGASSAN released to announce the suspension of the strike by its National Public Relations Officer, Fortune Obi, it acknowledged the role Minister of State for Petroleum and his labour counterpart, Dr. Chris Ngige, played in the truce.
