The National Economic Council, chaired by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, had on Monday accused the former Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy under ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, of spending $2.1bn from the Excess Crude Account without authorisation. Gov. Adams Oshiomhole had said;
In a statement issued by the Media Adviser of the former Minister, Mr. Paul Nwabuikwu, describes the allegation as false, malicious and totally without foundation.
“We looked at the numbers for the Excess Crude 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 bn.
“Today, the Accountant-General Office reported we have $2.0bn. Which means the honourable minister spent $2.1bn without authority of the NEC and that money was not distributed to states, it was not paid to the three tiers of government,” Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole told State House correspondents on Monday, after the NEC’s 58th meeting in Abuja.
The statement says that no unauthorized expenditure from the Excess Crude Account was made under Dr. Okonjo-Iweala’s watch in the Finance Ministry.
According the former Finance Minister, decisions on such expenditure were discussed at meetings of the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) attended by finance commissioners from the 36 states.
Part of the statement reads,
“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.”The statement adds that the former minister is ready and willing to respond to legitimate enquiries about issues under her purview as Finance Minister.
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