The former Coordinating Minister for the
Economy/ Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has debunked some
media reports purporting her to have indicted the President Goodluck
Jonathan administration for lacking the political will to save for the
rainy day when oil prices were high.
Citing her speech on “Inequality, Growth
and Resilience,” at the George Washington University, United States of
America on Thursday, some media reports had quoted the former minister
to have indicted the Jonathan administration of not having the political
will to save when oil prices were selling at over $100 per barrel.
But reacting to the reports yesterday
via a press statement captioned “Low Savings: Okonjo-Iweala Did Not
Indict the Jonathan Administration”, her Media Adviser, Paul Nwabuikwu
said some recent media reports have distorted the comments
“Contrary to the slant given by these
loud headlines, Okonjo-Iweala did not indict the Jonathan administration
in which she served. Rather, she was referring to what many Nigerians
already know; the strong opposition by some governors to the Jonathan
government’s efforts to save in the Excess Crude Account and the
Sovereign Wealth Fund sabotaged this important national priority.
“The governors’ criticism of
Okonjo-Iweala’s many calls for the country to save for the rainy days
are still fresh in the minds of Nigerians. This opposition culminated in
the governors taking the Jonathan government to the Supreme Court in
furtherance of their position that the Federal government had no right
to “compel” them to save,” Nwabuikwu said.
The statement added that several
knowledgeable persons including a former governor of Anambra State,
Peter Obi confirmed these facts.
“So the issue of Okonjo-Iweala indicting
the Jonathan administration over this very public issue simply does not
arise. We urge the media to always consult for clarification whenever
the need arises,” Nwabuikwu admonished.
To lend credence to the position that
the ex-minister’s comment was not an indictment on Jonathan, she had in
an interview with an international magazine, Le Monde, last weekend
said: “When I was finance minister, the first time, the volatility of
oil prices, and therefore state resources, cost at least three points of
growth in the country.
“We then established a stabilisation
mechanism and opened an account for the oil surplus, which posted up to
$22 billion. In 2008, when prices fell from $148 to $38 a barrel, no one
had heard of Nigeria because the country was able to tap into this
fund. And that I am very proud of.
“When I returned to the department in
2011, there remained only $4 billion on this account while the price of
oil was very high! I tried again to put money aside. The president
agreed, but the governors did not accept.
“I suffered a lot of attacks from them
and now that the country would really need this account, these same
people accuse me of not having saved. If Nigeria had been more careful,
we would not be here today. It hurts me. We have the mechanism, we had
the experience, but we were prevented to act.”
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