The contracts were awarded without passing through Kachikwu or the board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the minister alleged in a memo dated Aug. 30 but leaked to the media late Tuesday.

The contents of the memo have gone viral on social media, deepening public suspicion about the government's fight against corruption and impunity.

Kachikwu also accused NNPC Managing Director Maikanti Baru of undermining the office of the petroleum minister by not submitting NNPC’s activities to oversight by his office in accordance with the law.

“The legal and procedural requirement is that all contracts above $20 million would need to be reviewed and approved by the board of NNPC. Mr. President, in over one year of Mr. Baru’s tenure, no contract has been run through the board,” Kachikwu said in the memo.

“This is despite my diplomatic encouragement to Mr. Baru to do so to avoid wrongfully painting you as a president who does not allow due process to thrive in the NNPC,” he added.