Former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Ibe Kachikwu has recalled how former Nigeria’s President, late Muhammadu Buhari, threatened to sack him over the recommendation to remove fuel subsidy and increase the petrol pump price.
Mr Kachikwu, who served as the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources from 2016 to 2019, disclosed this during a business mentorship lecture series organized by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board.
He revealed that his greatest challenge when he assumed office as Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company in 2015 was the persistent fuel queues that grounded economic activities nationwide.
Mr Kachikwu recalled that despite sleepless nights and efforts to ease the crisis, much of the subsidized petrol imported into Nigeria was being smuggled across the borders, making scarcity inevitable.