………Meanwhile, Kachikwu, who started the entire storm that has snowballed into who between the president and his deputy actually approved the loans for NNPC, has stated that his memo to Buhari did not border on fraud but on governance and on the best ways to move the oil and gas sector forward in the country.

He also expressed deep confidence in the president as a thorough, clean and meticulous leader whose interest is to better the lot of Nigerians.

Kachikwu, who stated this in Owerri, the Imo State capital while speaking on the third day of Nigerian content workshop organised by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), decried the misrepresentation by some Nigerians on the issues raised in his memo, stressing that no one was accused of committing fraud in the NNPC contract awards.
“The conversation has been largely misunderstood to border on fraud. It was not on fraud, but on governance and suggested ways to go about it. I think a lot of people got it wrong.

“People dwell much on issues of sensationalism and leave the main substance. I think I and the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Dr. Maikanti Baru are working together as Mr. President has directed that we move forward,” he said.

According to the minister, “Mr. President has urged the two of us to find ways of working together to remove doubt and rift. Mr. President is a decent man and what he wants to achieve in this country is to leave a legacy for posterity.

“He is a sincere leader, so nobody should accuse him of engaging in fraud.”
He commended the management of NCDMB headed by its executive secretary, Mr. Simbi Wakote, for promoting and enforcing Nigerian content in the oil and gas sector.

“NCDMB is blessed in terms of the quality of personnel in that parastatal. They have done well in ensuring that things move well in his area. Simbi has made the institution stronger and I congratulate you and your folks,” he said.

Kachikwu, however, observed that not much local content had been engaged in offshore oil and gas operations and enjoined the NCDMB to move in that direction.

He announced that by next year, the facilities in Port Harcourt and Kaduna would be available to train unskilled Nigerians to acquire skills in the oil and gas sector, adding that the Petroleum Trust Development Fund (PTDF) and the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI) would be responsible for the program me.

2n2k:
“The conversation has been largely misunderstood to border on fraud. It was not on fraud, but on governance and suggested ways to go about it. I think a lot of people got it wrong.

“People dwell much on issues of sensationalism and leave the main substance. [/b]I think I and the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Dr. Maikanti Baru are working together as Mr. President has directed that we move forward,” he said.