The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, has described as “distressing,” the circulation of an internal memo he wrote to President Muhammadu Buhari about the conduct of Group Managing Director of NNPC, Maikanti Baru.
Mr. Kachikwu said the letter, which surfaced on the Internet Tuesday, was part of routine exchanges he regularly shares with the president about “developments in parastatals under his supervision.”
The minister conveyed the reaction through the spokesperson for the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Idang Alibi.
Mr. Alibi said the letter was aimed not at disparaging Mr. Baru but at “improving efficiency and deepening transparency in the oil and gas sector for continued investor confidence.”
The explanation comes hours after a three-page letter which Mr. Kachikwu wrote to Mr. Buhari on August 30 was leaked online.
An earlier report by PREMIUM TIMES indicated the content of the memo in which Mr. Kachikwu criticised Mr. Baru over a slew of perceived illegal practices and appealed to Mr. Buhari to take urgent steps to specifically, the minister accused Mr. Baru of effecting changes in personnel at the NNPC without recourse to NNPC board or the ministry.
Mr. Kachikwu, who also chairs the NNPC board, said the body has statutory duties to review appointments and postings by the state-run oil firm before they take effect.
The minister said he suffered “disrespectful and humiliating conducts” from Mr. Baru, according to the memo, which he wrote after concerted efforts to have a one-on-one appointment with the president at the State House fell through.
At the centre of the feud was the August 29 changes that affected up to 55 key executives at the NNPC.
Mr. Baru said the move was to “reposition” the NNPC and “fill the gaps created due to statutory retirements of staff.”
Amongst the five requests which Mr. Kachikwu sought from Mr. Buhari was an immediate suspension of the exercise until the “GMD, myself and the Board have made relevant input to same.”
In his reaction, Mr. Idang said Mr. Buhari backed Mr. Kachikwu’s efforts to “entrench good governance and accountability in the oil and gas sector.”
But the statement was silent on if the president had acted on the minister’s memo since about five weeks after it was written.
Until now, Messrs. Kachikwu and Baru had largely concealed their feud from the media, although it was first hinted more than a year ago.
In September 2016, the Daily Independent in Lagos reported a friction between Mr. Kachikwu and Mr. Baru, which centred on the administration’s Niger Delta policy.
Mr. Kachikwu’s feud with Mr. Baru also further underscores a troubling pattern of internal wrangling in the Buhari administration.
In July, Usman Yusuf, the suspended executive secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme engaged the Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, in a tussle over supremacy.
A few days before then, Attorney-General Abubakar Malami had an open dispute with the acting chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, with Mr. Malami accusing Mr. Magu of failing to report to him as required by extant EFCC regulations.
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