OKONJO-IWEALA: A STRONG TRANSPARENCY ADVOCATE AND ANTI-CORRUPTION FIGHTER
A RESPONSE TO FEMI FALANA, AN INTEGRITY-CHALLENGED CHARLATAN (ICC)
The malicious attempt by Lagos Lawyer,
Femi Falana to mix Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala up in issues that have nothing
to do with her in his letter to the International Criminal Court (ICC)
is a desperate joke by an integrity challenged charlatan (ICC).
This misadventure shows that the so-called learned lawyer does not have any idea of what the mandate of the ICC is about.
He has resorted to this action because
his previous efforts to tarnish her name - through his discredited NGO,
SERAP and petitions to the EFCC – failed because they were lacking in
credibility.
This latest effort to try to attach her
name falsely confirms that Femi Falana is nothing but a tool of corrupt
elements whose interests were hurt by the work Dr. Okonjo-Iweala did in
fighting corruption while she was in office.
These elements have now made a habit of
making false allegations against Dr Okonjo-Iweala whenever she receives
any national or international recognition for her work. The pattern is
clear and Nigerians should be alert to it. But Dr Okonjo-Iweala will not
be intimidated from going on with her life and performing her duties.
She will not give in to cowardly and unmanly bullying.
Falana’s latest attempt to implicate Dr
Okonjo-Iweala falsely suggests that he is suffering from an ailment that
may be described as Chronic Cerebral Amnesia (CCA) because he simply
has no grasp of the facts.
Here are the facts:
FACT NO 1: OKONJO-IWEALA HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE $2.1 BILLION ARMS CONTROVERSY
Contrary to Falana’s lies, Dr.
Okonjo-Iweala has absolutely nothing to do with the alleged misuse of
$2.1billion by the office of the former National Security Adviser.
Falana and his sponsors are simply trying to invent a connection where
there is none.
The January 20, 2015 memo in which Dr
Okonjo-Iweala sought and received the approval of former President
Jonathan for the release of part of the newly returned Abacha funds to
the NSA for purchase of arms is totally separate from the $2.1 billion
issue.
The memo which is now in the public
domain speaks for itself. The release of the resources was in response
to an approval by the former President following a meeting chaired by
him after a committee had considered the request.
The memo clearly documented Dr
Okonjo-Iweala’s insistence that the proper procedure be followed,
subject to appropriation and according to financial regulations. Dr.
Okonjo-Iweala went further to state that the former NSA should account
for the funds to the former President since she is not a member of the
Security Council. The attempt to link Okonjo-Iweala to the $2.1billion
issue is therefore dead on arrival.
FACT NO 2: OKONJO-IWEALA WAS NOT IN GOVERNMENT WHEN MOST OF THE ABACHA FUNDS WERE RECOVERED
Falana and his sponsors have claimed
that billions of dollars of Abacha funds were recovered and that Dr
Okonjo-Iweala should account for the recovered funds.
The fact is that some of the funds
recovery was done under the regime of General Abdulsalami Abubakar and
the first term of President Olusegun Obasanjo when Dr Okonjo-Iweala was
not even in government.
During the time Dr Okonjo-Iweala was
Finance Minister in the second Obasanjo administration, $500m was
recovered. As documented by the Field Study conducted by the World Bank
with the assistance of national and international NGOs, this amount was
properly applied.
Falana’s insistence on the contrary
shows how despicable he is and how he is ready to ignore facts and
concoct a fiction in the service of his sponsors.
FACT 3: OKONJO-IWEALA LEFT STRONG LEGACIES AS A CHAMPION OF TRANSPARENCY AND THE FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION WHILE IN GOVERNMENT
It is on record that Dr. Okonjo-Iweala
championed transparency and vigorously fought corruption during her two
terms as Minister. Among other actions, starting from the second
Obasanjo administration, she, for the first time in Nigeria’s history,
published monthly revenue allocations to all tiers of government for
Nigerians to see.
While serving in the Obasanjo
administration, she requested the assistance of the World Bank and DFID,
the UK’s development agency to build institutions and systems that
could block leakages from the treasury. This work stalled after she left
office in 2006. In August 2011 when she returned under the Jonathan
government, with the assistance of the Ministry of Finance Team, she
re-invigorated the establishment and use of the Integrated Personnel and
Payroll Management Systems (IPPIS), the Government Integrated Financial
Management System (GIFMIS) and the Treasury Single Account (TSA), all
of which saved the country billions of naira by drastically reducing
avenues for corruption in the public service. These facts are well
documented in successive World Bank, DFID and IMF Article 4 Reports.
It is gratifying that the present
government has adopted and is further building on these systems for the
benefit of the country.
FACT NO 4: DR. OKONJO-IWEALA’S MOTHER
WAS KIDNAPPED AND ALMOST KILLED BECAUSE OF THE FORMER MINISTER’S STANCE
AGAINST CORRUPTION
Falana is callous beyond belief for
ignoring a fact of recent Nigerian history: the kidnap of Professor
Kamene Okonjo, the then 83 year old mother of Dr Okonjo-Iweala by agents
of fuel subsidy fraudsters who were angry that the former Minister had
blocked them from defrauding the country further.
The kidnappers had told the traumatised
old woman that they were sent to punish Okonjo-Iweala for refusing to
pay some oil marketers. It is on record with the State Security Services
that the kidnappers initially demanded the resignation of Dr
Okonjo-Iweala in return for the release of her mother. Thank God
Professor Okonjo is still alive to tell her story today and she will not
be silenced.
It is extremely insensitive and, in
fact, inhumane for Falana and his sponsors to level false accusations
against someone like Dr Okonjo-Iweala who went through this kind of
searing personal ordeal for her principled fight against corruption.
CONCLUSION
Falana’s attempt to implicate Dr
Okonjo-Iweala falsely is a disservice to law, justice and the image of
the country. It is sad that a person who had earned some prominence as a
human rights lawyer now tramples on the human rights of others as a
political jobber.
He and his sponsors are engaged in
nothing but media harassment, cyber bullying and intimidation against
innocent persons like Dr Okonjo-Iweala for political and pecuniary gain.
That is why Nigerians should not give in to Falana’s self-imposed
Chronic Cerebral Amnesia (CCA).
Paul C Nwabuikwu
Media Adviser to Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
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