Former
Co-ordinating Minister and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala,
has alleged that the Federal Government recovered much of the Abacha
loots during the regime of General Abdulsalami Abubakar and the first
term of President Olusegun Obasanjo when she was not in government.
She made this allegation in response to
an attempt by a Lagos lawyer, Mr Femi Falana to link her with the $2.1
billion arms deal, rocking serveral former government officials.
According to her only $500 million was recovered during her tenure as
Finance Minister in President Olusegun Obasanjo government’s second
term
“During the time Dr Okonjo-Iweala was
Finance Minister in the second tenure of President Obasanjo
administration, $500 million was recovered. As documented by the Field
Study conducted by the World Bank with the assistance of national and
international NGOs, this amount was properly applied.
Falana’s insistence on the contrary shows
how despicable he is and how he is ready to ignore facts and concoct a
fiction in the service of his sponsors” she averred.
The former Finance Minister through her
Special Adviser, Mr Paul Nwabuikwu, noted that she fought corruption in
her time as minister by introducing variuos policies like IPPIS, TSA,
GIFMIS and other policies.
lt is on record that Dr. Okonjo-Iweala
championed transparency and vigorously fought corruption during her two
terms as Minister. Among other actions, starting from Obasanjo’s second
term in office, she, for the first time in Nigeria’s history, published
monthly revenue allocations to all tiers of government for Nigerians to
see.
While serving in the Obasanjo
administration, she requested the assistance of the World Bank and DFID,
the UK’s development agency to build institutions and systems that
could block leakages from the treasury. This work stalled after she left
office in 2006. In August 2011 when she returned under the Jonathan
government, with the assistance of the Ministry of Finance team, she
re-invigorated the establishment and use of the Integrated Personnel and
Payroll Management Systems (IPPIS), the Government Integrated Financial
Management System (GIFMIS) and the Treasury Single Account (TSA), all
of which saved the country billions of naira by drastically reducing
avenues for corruption in the public service.
These facts are well documented in successive World Bank, DFID and IMF Article 4 Reports.
It is gratifying that the present
government has adopted and is further building on these systems for the
benefit of the country” she said.
Okonjo-Iweala said that it was callous of
Falana to overlook the fact that her 83-year old mother was kidnapped
because of her stance on corruption.
“Falana is callous beyond belief for
ignoring a fact of recent Nigerian history: the kidnap of Professor
Kamene Okonjo, the then 83 year old mother of Dr Okonjo-Iweala by agents
of fuel subsidy fraudsters who were angry that the former Minister had
blocked them from defrauding the country further.
“The kidnappers had told the traumatised
old woman that they were sent to punish Okonjo-Iweala for refusing to
pay some oil marketers. It is on record with the State Security Services
that the kidnappers initially demanded the resignation of Dr
Okonjo-Iweala in return for the release of her mother. Thank God
Professor Okonjo is still alive to tell her story today and she will not
be silenced.
It is extremely insensitive and, in fact,
inhumane for Falana and his sponsors to level false accusations against
someone like Dr Okonjo-Iweala who went through this kind of searing
personal ordeal for her principled fight against corruption.”
Sun
0 comments:
Post a Comment