By Yemie Adeoye
LAGOS—FOLLOWING loud criticisms in the media of his trip abroad after Vice President Goodluck Jonathan had instructed otherwise, the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Dr. Rilwanu Lukman, has clarified the circumstances surrounding his controversial trip to Vienna, Austria, asserting that contrary to widespread media reports that he defied the Vice President’s order, he had actually secured the permission of the Vice President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, before traveling.
The Group General Manager, Public Affairs Division of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Dr Levi Ajuonuma, who made the clarification in a statement, said Dr Lukman was saddened by the reports and the innuendoes they contained depicting him as one who had no respect for the office of the Vice President.

Minister of Petroleum Resources, Dr. Rilwanu Lukman

“Dr Lukman is concerned about the recent reports in the media insinuating that he defied the Vice President’s order banning him from going on break during the Christmas holiday. He has explained that contrary to the reports, he actually sought and got the Vice President’s express permission to travel,” Dr Ajuonuma said in a statement.

He quoted the Minister as saying, “At the end of the last Federal Executive Council meeting in which the Vice President gave the instruction that we should not travel, I intimated him of the urgent need for me to travel to attend to certain pressing official as well as family matters and he gave me approval to travel. I couldn’t have travelled without the express permission of the Vice President. I have no reason whatsoever to defy the office of the Vice President as is widely reported.”

Dr Ajuonuma urged anyone in doubt as to the veracity of Dr Lukman’s claim, to verify from the office of the Vice President, adding that he hoped the clarification would put an end to all the attacks on the person of the Minister who has served the country meritoriously in various capacities over the past two and a half decades.