Okonjo-Iweala fires back, says she didn’t spend $2.1bn

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria’s Finance Minister

The former minister of finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo Iweala has described the allegations that she spent $2.1 billion out of the Excess Crude Account “without authorization” as “false, malicious and totally without foundation”.

Nigerian state governors had yesterday alleged that the former finance minister spent $2.1 billion from the Excess Crude Account, ECA without authorisation based on the balance of $2 billion now in the 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 billion.

“Today, the Accountant General office reported we have $2 which means the honourable minister spent $2.1 billion without authority of NEC and that money was not paid to states, it was not paid to the three tiers of government,” Governor Adams Oshiomole told journalists after the NEC meeting.

He also announced that a committee made up of four governors have been set up by NEC to probe the unauthorized spending as well as failure of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC to remit about $3.8 trillion it earned between 2012 and May 2015 to the federation account.

But the former finance Minister denied the allegation of unauthorised spending in a statement signed by Paul Nwabuikwu, his media adviser on Tuesday.

She added that decision to withdraw funds from the account is always made in conjunction with the states.

The former Minister also said the allegation presupposes non existent of the Federal Account Allocation Council where the States and the Federal Government usually agree on revenue sharing.

“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.

“But Nigerians know that collective revenues, allocations and expenditures of the three tiers of government are the concern of the monthly FAAC meetings,” said Iweala.

The Minister said the allegation was intended to smear her reputations as has been attempted in the past. She however said she is ready to defend her service to the country as finance minister.