The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, submitted his controversial memo to the office of President Muhammadu Buhari only after it was leaked to the media, according to reports by some online media.
The letter dated August 30, 2017 was leaked to the media on Tuesday, October 3, 2017 but submitted to the President’s office on Thursday, October 5.
Buhari was said to have been surprised that he had not seen a letter supposedly written to him before it appeared in the media. He immediately raised an internal query on its whereabouts.
It was initially thought to be a fake letter until the Ministry of Petroleum Resources confirmed it was written by Kachikwu.
The registry of the Chief of Staff to the President, which takes delivery of official mails for the president, denied receiving any such letter from the Minister.
In standard public sector practice, all incoming mails are stamped “received” with date, time and signature of the receiving clerk all recorded. An acknowledgement copy is then given to the sender.
Kachikwu was asked by presidency to provide an acknowledgment copy of his letter but he said he could not find it, further fuelling internal suspicion that there was a political slant to the controversy.
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