Okonjo-Iweala reacts to Femi Falana's call for her prosecution, says he is an Integrity challenged charlatan
Former Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has
reacted to the call by Senior Advocate of Nigeria and human rights lawyer, Mr
Femi Falana for her arrest and prosecution at the International Criminal Court,
ICC,
Responding through her Media Adviser, Paul Nwabuikwu, the
former minister described Falana's attempt to link her to the $2.1 billion arms
deal, as a desperate joke by an integrity challenged charlatan (ICC) and called
on Nigerians not give in to Falana’s self-imposed Chronic Cerebral Amnesia (CCA).
Okonjo-Iweala described Falana as a tool for corrupt elements whose interests
were hurt by the work she did in fighting corruption while she was in office.
The statement after the cut...
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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