Senator Shehu Sani (APC-Kaduna Central) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to act on the memo written to him by the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr Ibe Kachikwu.
Kachikwu had in the leaked memo informed Buhari that the Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Maikanti Baru, was insubordinate, highhanded and has created a culture of fear in the corporation.
Speaking to Channels TV on Wednesday, Sani said the president has much to lose if no serious action is taken in response to the memo.
He said there are a lot of negative conclusions that could be drawn including that there is ”a government within a government” under the current administration.
The Senator said: ”The content of that letter and the allegations made raise a number of issues not only about the NNPC but about the whole structure of governance as it exists today, in the very sense that if a minister of state can say it has been difficult for him to access channels through which he can present his issues, I think there is a system disconnect and it is simply giving credence to the fact that there exists a government within a government.”
Sani admitted that it is not strange for leaders to have a close circle of advisers whose opinion are superior to other officials, he explained that the case in Nigeria is different.
”In some cases, they call them kitchen cabinet but this is not a kitchen cabinet. This is about some persons who have surrounded the President and are exercising power to their advantage and also manipulating power to their own interest,” he said.
Asked if he feels the President is aware of what is going on, the Senator suggested he is in the dark on the matter.
Sani said: ”I am of the firm belief that if he is aware of this he would have taken action. And if he is not aware of it, this has been brought to the fore and now he can take action.
”But if he says he will not take an action on this issue then it will definitely stain the integrity and reputation of government.”
