I didn’t spend a kobo from ECA without authorisation, says Okonjo-Iweala
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, former minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, says she is “ready and willing to respond to legitimate enquiries about issues under her purview as finance minister”.
Denying the allegation that she spent $2.1 billion out of the excess crude account (ECA) without authorisation, Okonjo-Iweala accused some politicians of being bent on tarnishing her image.
She said this in a statement issued on Tuesday by Paul Nwabuikwu, her spokesman.
“The allegation by some governors that former minister of finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala spent $2.1 billion out of the excess crude account “without authorization” is false, malicious and totally without foundation,” the statement read.
“We want to state categorically that no unauthorized expenditure from the ECA was made under Okonjo-Iweala’s watch in the finance ministry. Decisions on such expenditure were discussed at meetings of the federation accounts allocation committee (FAAC) attended by finance commissioners from the 36 states.
“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.
“The former minister is ready and willing to respond to legitimate enquiries about issues under her purview as finance minister. But 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.”
After the inauguration of NEC on Monday, Adams Oshiomhole, governor of Edo state, who is a member of the four-man committee, saddled with the task of probing the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), alleged that Okonjo-Iweala did not give a proper account of the resources of the country.
“We looked at the numbers for the ECA, the last time the minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, reported to the council and it is in the minute, she reported by November 2014 that we had $4.1 billion. But today, the accountant-general’s office reported we have $2.0 billion, which means the honourable minister spent $2.1 billion without authority of the NEC. And that money was not distributed to states, it was not paid to the three tiers of government. This is why the NEC has set up a panel to look at what accrued, what was it spent for, when and by whom. So that Nigerians will have the full picture of all the transactions as regards the much talked about Excess crude,” he had said.
Now the Governors have to prove their case, we are found of using allegations and rumousr as facts.
Isn’t that what the probe is about? Unearthing all financial malfeasance if any. Sooner than later, we will know who is lying.
Anyone who followed Oshiomhole from Textile Workers Union to the Government House, Benin, will know what he is capable of. Curious that a committee of governors has been set up to investigate the accounts. Whatever the outcome, it will be politicised and might end up as a huge distraction.