[Gossip] Okonjo Iweala Replies Oshiomole Over Allegations She Spent $2.1bn Oil Fund Without Approval

Immediate past Minister of Finance Ngozi Okonjo
Iweala has responded to allegations that she spent
$2.1 billion from the Excess Crude Account without
the approval of the National Economic Council. While
speaking to newsmen after the inauguration of the
National Economic Council yesterday June 29th,
Governor Adams Oshiomole accused the former
minister of spending $2.1 billion from the Excess
Crude Account without the necessary authorization.
"We looked at the numbers for the Excess Crude
Account. The last time the former Minister of
Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy,
Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, reported to the council,
and it is in the minutes, she reported by November
2014 that we had $4.1 bn. Today, the Accountant-
General Office reported we have $2.0bn.
Which means the honourable minister spent $2.1bn
without authority of the NEC and that money was
not distributed to states, it was not paid to the three
tiers of government,” Adams Oshiomhole said
However in a statement released and signed by her
spokesperson Paul Nwabuikwu today June 30th, Dr
Okonjo-Iweala said there was no authorized
spending from the Excess Crude Account under her
watch as Minister of Finance. She described the
allegations as a political witch hunting.
"It is curious that in their desperation to use the
esteemed National Economic Council for political
and personal vendetta, the persons behind these
allegations acted as if the constitutionally
recognized FAAC, a potent expression of Nigeria’s
fiscal federalism, does not exist. But Nigerians
know that collective revenues, allocations and
expenditures of the three tiers of government are
the concern of the monthly FAAC meetings. It is
important to acknowledge the efforts of governors
who are working hard to overcome the current
revenue challenges facing their states without
resorting to character assassination and blame
games.
It is clear that this is the latest chapter of a political
witch-hunt by elements who are attempting to use
the respected National Economic Council for ignoble
purposes having failed abysmally in their previous
attempts to tar the Okonjo-Iweala name. It will be
recalled that one of such attempts took place in
May when some of these governors, hiding under
the auspices of the Nigerian Governors Forum
asked Okonjo-Iweala to explain $20 billion alleged
to be missing from the same ECA. The Finance
Ministry subsequently issued a news release and
published an advertorial in national newspapers on
May 25, 2015 giving details of what the Federal
Government and states received from the ECA in
the last four years. It also provided details of the
use of the funds for payment of petrol subsidies for
the Nigerian public and SURE-P allocations to the
three tiers for development purposes.
After the publication, the accusers lost their voice.
But the latest allegations show that these persons
are still in the business of throwing up wild,
unsubstantiated figures to damage Okonjo-Iweala’s
name. For instance, within the last few months,
Governor Oshiomhole and his fellow travelers have
asked Okonjo-Iweala to account for “missing” $30
billion, $20 billion and now $2.1 billion. What they
don’t seem to understand is that the strategy has
lost all credibility because the falsehood is clear for
all to see. How can some governors who fought
FG’s efforts to leave robust savings in the ECA and
even took the Federal Government to court over the
matter turn around to make such unfounded
allegations? The world knows that it was Okonjo-
Iweala who pioneered, during her first stint as
Minister of Finance in the Obasanjo administration,
the practice of publishing monthly updates of all
allocations to different tiers of government in order
to empower Nigerians with information and
knowledge of government revenues and
expenditure.
This enabled the Nigerian public to ask questions
about the utilization of these resources. Of course
many elected and appointed public officials were
not happy with this development. She continued this
practice when she returned in 2011 and even added
periodic updates on the Excess Crude Account,
subsidy payments for verified claims by oil
marketers for fuel imports as well as SURE-P
payments to the three tiers of government. Against
this background, the idea that she spent $2.1 billion
“without authorization” is simply not credible given
that details of government receipts and expenditure
are public knowledge. We believe that Nigerians are
too smart to be hoodwinked by this partisan
desperation to tar the name of Okonjo-Iweala. In the
interest of the country, we advise that public
officials should avoid the temptation to politicize
economic issues so that balanced analysis can lead
to real solutions.”the statement read




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By GbeduXclusive Admin on Tuesday, 30 June 2015