Former Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala has flayed the level of persecution being meted out on her person by the Finance Commissioners over the management and disbursement of the Excess Crude Account (ECA).
In a latest press release by her Media Adviser, Paul C. Nwabuikwu, Wednesday, and titled; Needless Persecution of Okonjo Iweala’, the minister condemned the persecution even as she urged that the trend should stop.
“Payments made were used for paying for petroleum subsidies for the Nigerian people and were approved by Mr President. Therefore there is no question of mismanaging any resources here.
“For the avoidance of doubt, at no time did Dr. Okonjo-Iweala say that FAAC approved such expenditures. What she said was that all these expenditures were discussed at FAAC meetings attended by Finance Commissioners from the 36 states. It is therefore clear that there was no misrepresentation by Dr. Okonjo-Iweala.
“The question before us is: why is there such an excessive attempt to batter her name in an attempt to damage her reputation? It is clear as I said in my previous statement that the motive is malicious and very political and therefore will not succeed.
“If monies were used to pay for subsidies for the Nigerian people and duly approved, why is Okonjo-Iweala’s name being battered in this way? This persecution should stop,” the statement read.
While thanking the state Finance Commissioners for their clarification on the use of the Excess Crude Account (ECA), the former minister pointed out that ‘it only shows that Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) is a statutory body which is chaired by the Hon. Minister of State for Finance in which all the states are represented.’
