A socio-political commentator, Dr. Raji Bello, has condemned the leak of a letter containing Qatar’s rejection of a business and investment forum trip of President Bola Tinubu to the Arab nation.
The Herald can report that the letter dated February 22, 2024, was written by the Embassy of the State of Qatar in Abuja and addressed to the Protocol Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Nigeria.
The Tinubu administration has faced serious embarrassment since the letter leaked.
In a Facebook post on Sunday, Bello said that the leak served no public interest purpose but was merely done to embarrass the government.
According to him, the leak of the official correspondence indicated that some partisan and bigoted civil servants were occupying sensitive positions.
He urged the government to identify and punish the offender to set an example for others.
Bello said, “The leakage of that diplomatic communication between the Embassy of Qatar and our Ministry of Foreign Affairs is tasteless and irresponsible.
“I’m not saying this because I’m a government supporter, it’s just a matter of principle. I don’t know what the person wanted to achieve.
“There seems to be no public interest that the leak would serve; it was purely intended to embarrass the government.
“It shows that we have petty, partisan or bigoted civil servants sitting on some very important desks somewhere.
“How we could make progress with such people in the system? This is what happens when you don’t set example with offenders.
“If the last leaker is serving 5 years in prison, this one would not have happened.”