A member of the Kirkuk Provincial Council from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan PUK bloc, stressed that no one sign official letters as governor currently while Kurdish lawmaker from Kirkuk affirms the acting governor signs official documents in his capacity as governor.
The two contradictory opinions regarding the issue of the authority to sign official letters were stated in two separate statements.
Dylan Ghafour, the Kirkuki member of the Iraqi parliament of the PUK bloc, stressed in a letter that she addressed on Thursday, July 18, 2024, to the head of the Supreme Commission for Coordination between the Governorates, that the member of the Kirkuk Provincial Council, Rakan Saeed, “is still performing his duties as the acting governor of Kirkuk and signs Official letters issued by him with dates prior to his oath as member of provincial council.”
But Ahmed Kirkuki, member of the Kirkuk Provincial Council from the PUK bloc, said in a statement regarding a demonstration organized by a number of yputh in front of the governorate building to demand their rights regarding their salaries, “I learned that an error had occurred in the Accounts and Auditing Department, due to the delay in their effective appointment and the interference of the Ministry of Finance in the matter. All the problems have been resolved now, but because there is no governor, no one can sign the letter.”
Rakan Saeed Al-Jibouri, was appointed the acting governor of Kirkuk after the events of October 16, 2017 by Prime Minister Haidar Al-Abbadi. He was sworn in as a member of the provincial council on July 10 and began his duties the next day.
Following last December’s provincial council elections, the winging parties have failed to come to an agreement to nominate the head of the provincial council, the governor and their deputies.
Dylan Ghafour had indicated that “Rakan Saeed is committing a legal violation, as he took the legal oath as a member of the Provincial Council,” and demanded the formation of an investigative committee against him and the seizure of records issued in the Kirkuk Provincial Office.
The two contradictory opinions come at a time when the Assistant Governor of Kirkuk, Ali Hammadi, stated last week that “Rakan Saeed Al-Jubouri was officially referred for retirement on July 1 after completing 60 years.”
"There are efforts to keep Rakan Saeed in the position of governor until the council elects another person for the position," Hammadi added. "For this reason, he asked the Iraqi Prime Minister to extend the retirement age, but the Prime Minister has not yet responded to the request."
The oil-rich city of Kirkuk is home to about 1.77 million Kurds, Turkmen, and Arabs. Located 238 kilometers north of Baghdad, Kirkuk has long been at the center of disputes between the federal government in Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government KRG in Erbil.
