Okonjo-Iweala responds to Oshiomhole, says article full of gaping holes

The Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala has reacted to a publication by the Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole where he called on the outgoing Finance Minister to give proper account of how the economy was managed under her watch before leaving office.

Oshiomhole in the article titled, “Economy: Okonjo-Iweala’s hidden figures,” alleged that the minister mismanaged the economy and abused financial regulations. He insisted that Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala’s tenure as Finance Minister remained “a bile in the dish until she clarifies her role in the management of resources”.
Reacting, however, through her Special Adviser, Paul C Nwabuike, the Minister in a long statement titled, ” Oshiomhole’s baseless diatribe against Okonjo-Iweala,” said it was disappointing ”that after the Federal Ministry of Finance published the details of what the Federal and State governments received from the Excess Crude Account over the past four years, Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State has launched yet another attack against the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.”

The statement tagged the Governor’s article as one ”full of gaping holes, both in facts and logic.”

The Minister in the statement alleged that she has become an object of attack since she went public on how the Excess Crude Account was shared, having indicted the governors of being responsible for non-payment of state workers’ salaries.

Iweala argued that Oshiomhole’s allegation that she has not been transparent was ridiculous and totally lacking in merit. She said that apart from the monthly publication of allocations to the federal, state and local governments, the Federal Ministry of Finance under her watch also published ”SURE-P receipts and distribution to different tiers, details of payments to oil marketers and other information.”

The statement termed as untrue and totally irresponsible Oshiomhole’s allegation that she was involved in “an unholy alliance” with government agencies and the marketers, stating that it was wrong for the Comrade governor to have alleged that she is in the league of the same marketer who had embarked on campaign of calumny against her.