Denying the allegation however, Dr Okonjo-Iweala said: “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,” the minister said.
She added that Governor Oshiomhole and some others like him, had made futile efforts at rubbishing her in the past and that the current effort would fail like the ones before it.
According to her, “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.
“It will be recalled that one of such attempts took place in May when some of these governors, hiding under the auspices of the Nigerian Governors Forum, asked Okonjo-Iweala to explain $20 billion alleged to be missing from the same ECA.
“The Finance Ministry subsequently issued a news release and published an advertorial in national newspapers on May 25, 2015, giving details of what the Federal Government and states received from the ECA in the last four years. It also provided details of the use of the funds for payment of petrol subsidies for the Nigerian public and SURE-P allocations to the three tiers for development purposes.
“After the publication, the accusers lost their voice. But the latest allegations show that these persons are still in the business of throwing up wild, unsubstantiated figures to damage Okonjo-Iweala’s name. For instance, within the last few months, Governor Oshiomhole and his fellow travelers have asked Okonjo-Iweala to account for “missing” $30 billion, $20 billion and now $2.1 billion. What they don’t seem to understand is that the strategy has lost all credibility because the falsehood is clear for all to see,” she said.
She wondered how some governors who fought the Federal Government’s efforts to leave robust savings in the ECA and even took the Federal Government to court over the matter now turn around to make such unfounded allegations. She also acknowledged the efforts of governors who are working hard to overcome the current revenue challenges facing their states without resorting to character assassination and blame games.
The former minister also said she pioneered the practice of publishing monthly updates of all allocations to different tiers of government in order to empower Nigerians with information and knowledge of government revenues and expenditure.
“This enabled the Nigerian public to ask questions about the utilization of these resources. Of course many elected and appointed public officials were not happy with this development”, she claimed.
Publishing government revenues and expenditure, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala, said, continued till the end of the Goodluck Jonathan administration as well as periodic updates on the Excess Crude Account, subsidy payments for verified claims by oil marketers for fuel imports and SURE-P payments to the three tiers of government.
She insisted that the idea that she spent $2.1 billion without authorization “is simply not credible given that details of government receipts and expenditure are public knowledge”.vanguard
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