Former House of Representatives aspirant and a political leader in Enugu State, Chief Emeka Aba, has urged the Federal Government through the appropriate agencies to stem the tide of frivolous petitions against genuine and honest public servants.

He also urged the Federal Government to protect “the hardworking Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla, from the destruction lined up against him by oil thieves who have found him uncompromising and inflexible to their dubious deals.”

Aba, who was reacting to a petition written against the Chief of Naval Staff by people ostensibly sponsored by some oil bunkerers, said the Federal Government should do everything within its means to ensure that genuine servants of the people are not distracted or their names dented.

The former House of Representatives aspirant said that available records show that since the coming of the current leadership of the Navy backed by the political will from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the fight against oil thieves has intensified with more arrests and seizures.

He said in a statement issued over the weekend: “From all indications, the petitioners are doing the bidding of some frustrated oil thieves who want a return to the status quo so that their business can continue.

“I want to urge the Presidency to mirror some of the top persons in government who from all indications are finding the new wave of anti-oil theft very uncomfortable.

“Discerning minds find the journey of the petition curious that it did not go to the EFCC or ICPC or direct to the President or Chief of Defence Staff of at worst Minister of Defence or NNPCL but to a junior Minister Bello Matawalle who jumped into it even after the Ministry suspected the allegations might be mischievous.

“It’s curious that after the Nigerian Navy through its spokesman in a statement by the Director of Information, Rear Admiral Adedotun Ayo-Vaughan, denied the allegations as untenable and baseless, a junior Minister still went ahead to talk on it elaborately to the press.

“I am of the view that if the federal Government is serious about tackling the menace of oil thieves which is injurious to our economy, it must look inwards at some characters in the government and fish them out.

“If President Tinubu wants its anti-oil theft in the Niger Delta to stop, it must deploy all necessary machinery to fish them out and prevent unnecessary distractions from some ignoble characters.”