Me afraid of Buhari? Never, says Okonjo-Iweala

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Onkojo-Iweala has declared that she is not scared of being probed by President Muhammadu Buhari.

She made this remark while responding to what she considered an attack on her person by Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo state.

Okonjo-Iweala in a statement Thursday said “there is no substance in the wild allegations that any money is missing from the account or that finances of the country under Okonjo-Iweala’s watch have not been well managed.”

She stated that she “has no reason to fear Buhari. Those who cannot adequately explain what they did with the resources of their states and are begging for bailout are those who should be scared.”

Okonjo-Iweala denied claims by Oshiomhole that she has been speaking out lately because of the “fear of Buhari”.

According to her, “if there is any minister whose voice has been strong on the right issues over the past four years it is Okonjo-Iweala.”

She said she has no apologies for insisting that a claim of N159 billion for forex differentials by the marketers out of a total bill of N200 billion should go through an additional verification process, stressing that “when 80 per cent of a subsidy claim is made up of forex differentials and not the value of the amount of fuel supplied, the right and proper thing to do is to take extra steps to ensure that the country is not being cheated. That is what Okonjo-Iweala did.”

Okonjo-Iweala described Oshiomhole’s statement as “astonishing given the fact that every payment made to the marketers has been published in the media and widely disseminated through all news channels.
She however questioned if Governor Oshiomhole has demonstrated the same level of openness in his management of the affairs of Edo state asking if Oshiomhole “can also go public with ALL the information showing what he has received from various sources and the uses to which he has deployed them?”

The motive behind Oshiomhole’s attack, she maintained, is to deflect public attention away from the manner in which they have run the finances of their states and make her the scapegoat.

 

 

 

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