I DIDN’T WITHDRAW $1BN FOR JONATHAN’S CAMPAIGN – OKONJO-IWEALA

The immediate past Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on Monday denied withdrawing $1bn from the Excess Crude Account to finance the campaign of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
In a statement by her Media Adviser, Mr Paul Nwabuikwu, the former finance minister described the allegation by Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State that she spent $1bn out of the ECA to fund the re-election bid of Jonathan as a “ludicrously false statement that has unfortunately become a trademark of the Governor in his public campaign of falsehood.”
The statement said the comment by the governor was “just another example of the numerical diarrhea that seems to have afflicted His Excellency in recent times in his effort to damage the reputation of the former minister.”
It reads in part, “He has, within the last few months, asked Dr Okonjo-Iweala to explain all kinds of totally wild and unsubstantiated figures, ranging from $30bn, $20bn, $2.1bn, N720bn and now $1bn.

OSHIOMHOLE: NGOZI OKONJO IWEALA SPENT $1BN ON GEJ’S CAMPAIGN

Adams Oshiomhole, governor of Edo state, has alleged that Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, immediate past minister of finance, expended $1 billion on the re-election bid of former president, Goodluck Jonathan. Oshiomhole, who has been attacking the former minister in recent times, described her as a “pathological liar”, re-emphasising the point of the All Progressives Congress (APC) that revelations of the rot of Jonathan’s government would be released in the coming weeks. On Sunday, Lai Mohammed, spokesman of the APC, had asked Nigerians to await “shocking revelations” about Jonathan’s government. Oshiomhole accused Okonjo-Iweala of being inconsistent in the attempt to cover up her alleged excesses, asking her to explain to Nigerians how the excess crude account was reduced to $4.1 billion from $10 billion.

THIS PERSECUTION SHOULD STOP - NGOZI OKONJO-IWEALA

Former Minister of Finance Dr Ngozi Okonjo Iweala says the repeated battering of her name in the media in recent times by some politicians needs to stop.Okonjo-Iweala has been accused by Edo state governor, Adams Oshiomole of spending N2.1 billion from the Excess Crude account ECA without proper approval. The Federation Accounts Allocation Committee which comprises of all Finance commissioners from the 36 states yesterday stated that they were not informed when the former Minister approved the release of N2.1 billion from the ECA.

We thank the Finance Commissioners for their clarification on the use of the Excess Crude Account (ECA) and for acknowledging that this is not an Okonjo-Iweala issue.
The statement clearly shows that Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) is a statutory body which is chaired by the Hon. Minister of State for Finance in which all the states are represented.

OKONJO-IWEALA MAKES FORTUNE’S 50 GREATEST WORLD LEADERS

The Minister of Finance Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has been named one of the 50 greatest leaders in the world by Fortune Magazine.
Okonjo-Iweala was recognised alongside Liberian President, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf; Pope Francis, Chinese President Xi Jinping; Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi; Bill and Melinda Gates, Facebook Founder, Mark Zuckerburg; and Apple Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Tom Cook.
The development was confirmed by a statement on Thursday by the Ministry of Finance, adding that the finance minister was named 33rd on the list.
The minister, according to the statement, is described by Fortune Magazine as “a fearless promoter of sound economic policies.”

SOLUDO REPLIES OKONJO-IWEALA, ACCUSES HER OF FORGING NATIONAL ECONOMICS STATISTICS

A former Central Bank Governor, Charles Soludo, has reacted to the criticism of his earlier article by the Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
In a lengthy, over 6000 words article, Mr. Soludo on Sunday rejected claims by Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala that he performed poorly as governor of the Central Bank. He said his performance as CBN governor was unprecedented and locally as well as globally acknowledged.
“In Nigeria’s history, no governor of the Central Bank has delivered 24 consecutive months of single digit inflation as I did until the advent of the unprecedented global crisis in 2008,” he said.
Mr. Soludo then challenged claims by Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala, who is also the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, that the Nigerian economy is doing well. He accused Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala of running the country’s economy aground.
“You are brilliant Madam, but you need serious help,” he said while reeling our data to show the porous state of the Nigerian economy. “Having spent all your life in the World Bank bureaucracy largely in administration/operations, no one will blame you if your economics has become a bit rusty. There are firebrand Nigerians all over the world to draft to service. It is certainly embarrassing to Nigeria for you to be bothering World Bank economists to help you with most basic economic analysis.”He also accused her of forging Nigeria’s national economics statistics.

NIGERIA IS NOT BROKE -OKONJO-IWEALA

The Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo–Iweala, has assured Nigerians that the economy is growing positively in spite of the reduction of oil price in the international market.
Okonjo-Iweala, who stated this on Tuesday at the 2014 Ministerial Platform in Abuja, said the nation was not broke as being speculated in the media.
She said, “If you look back two years ago, that title ‘is Nigeria broke’ was written in a newspaper article, it is like people are trying to force Nigeria into brokerage.
“I think since two years, we have managed to keep things going, let me explain these; Nigeria is a country that depends on a stream of income.
“That income is being able to collect taxes from companies, individuals and our income is also based on selling a product and that product you take to market and you take whatever price a buyer is willing to pay.”

OKONJO-IWEALA: I NEED TIME TO ANSWER LAWMAKERS' QUESTIONS

• Keeps mum on Jonathan, Sanusi Face-off
Minister of Finance and the Co-ordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, yesterday in Abuja said the 50 questions House of Representatives members recently asked her to answer before the 2014 budget could be considered was akin to writing an examination.
The minister who fielded questions from State House correspondents, shortly after she attended a presentation of a report on "14 Years of Strategic Partnership between the DFID, UK and the Debt Management Office - Nigeria" presided over by Vice President Namadi Sambo, said some of the issues raised were weighty, and as such, she needed some time to be able to tackle them.

NGOZI OKONJO IWEALA: ASUU DISTRIBUTING PAMPHLETS ABUSING ME IN MOSQUES’

The Federal Government yesterday advised the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to end its four-month old strike by rethinking its “take-it-or-leave-it approach to negotiation”.
Talks between the government and the teachers broke down when ASUU accused the government of being uninterested in implementing the 2009 agreement.
In a statement yesterday, Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, accused ASUU leaders of “distributing pamphlets and flyers with abusive and inflammatory messages against the Finance minister in mosques and other places”
The minster described ASUU action as “taking academic unionism to a new low and infusing it with unnecessary politics”.
The statement added that the messages contained in the pamphlets and flyers “are directed at using falsehood to demonise the minister as callous and unsympathetic to the plight of students and parents”.

CALL FOR RESIGNATION: ‘I DEY KAMPE,’ SAYS OKONJO-IWEALA

…says I ‘ll face my job of managing economy
The Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said Wednesday, that she was not contemplating resignation and would concentrate on her job of managing the nation’s economy for the common good of Nigerians.
The 7 governors who are opposed to the Alh. Bamanga Tukur-led People’s Democratic party, PDP, had Tuesday night called for the resignation of the minister, considered as one of the most valuable members of President Gooluck Jonathan’s cabinet.
Dr. Okonjo-Iweala made her stand on the issue known at a briefing, in Abuja, where she gave a load down on the performance of the economy.

OKONJO-IWEALA HAS HIJACKED GOVT FROM JONATHAN - REPS

THE leadership of the House of Representatives led by Honourable Aminu Tambuwal on Wednesday opened up on perceived hostility between the House and the executive arm of government with claim that some of his ministers had hijacked government from President Goodluck Jonathan.

This came to fore at a closed door meeting between the House leadership and PDP BoT members, led by its chairman, Chief Tony Anenih.

Impeccable sources at the closed door meeting told Nigerian Tribune that the meeting was centered on rekindled  underground disagreement on proposed amendment to 2013 Appropriation Act.

OKONJO-IWEALA: 2013, A GAME CHANGER FOR NIGERIA

The Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said that 2013 is going to be a game changer and a turning point for the country.

The minister, who said this on the Christiane Amanpour current affairs programme, “Amanpour” monitored on CNN Tuesday, said that the President Goodluck Jonathan administration was going to produce results this year, even as she pointed out: “We are already producing results within the administration.”

Okonjo-Iweala added: “On the economic side, I just want to say that macroeconomic stability has been restored. Now, nobody should minimise that.

I'M NOT PURSUING ANY PERSONAL AGENDA, SAYS OKONJO-IWEALA

The Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has denied pursuing any personal or Igbo agenda in the President Goodluck Jonathan government.

The minister disclosed this at the weekend when she delivered a paper titled: “Values, Mindsets and Culture” at the Ola Ndi Igbo symposium which took place in Lagos at the weekend.
Okonjo-Iweala, who was apparently worried by the allegations that she was pursuing an Igbo agenda in the government of President Jonathan, insisted that all appointments into most federal government’s establishments were strictly carried out on merit.
She denied having any hand in the appointments of some Igbos into top positions in the Jonathan government, maintaining that such persons got their appointments merit.

OKONJO-IWEALA’S MOTHER: POLICE ARREST PALACE GUARD

ASABA — POLICE have seized a 36-year-old palace guard and suspected kidnap kingpin, alleged to have facilitated the abduction of Prof. Kamene Okonjo, mother of the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, last December, in Ogwashi-Uku, Delta State by kidnappers.

DeltaState Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ikechukwu Aduba, who confirmed the arrest of the suspect, Chiejine, to Vanguard, yesterday, said: “While the police in DeltaState were after him, the Lagos State Police Command was also after him for some criminal offences, so we have handed him over to them.”

He said the police did not have a hand in the Okonjo-Iweala mother kidnap  until he was arrested by the police, last week,  after a shootout in  EdoState  in connection with the death of 71-year-old Mrs. Regina Obi after collecting N2 million ransom from her family.

FEDERAL GOVT TO BORROW N251B

MINISTERS will decide today whether the Federal government should borrow N251.6 billion to finance Nigeria’s infrastructure deficit.

The money will be sourced from the issuance of $1 billion Eurobond, $100 million diaspora bond and N80 billion FGN bonds through syndicated global depository notes.

The weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting will get the request for approval for these finances from the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, in a memorandum which she will present to the council.

The minister said last week that the government planned “ to prioritise infrastructure investments and also to leverage additional external financing for infrastructure investments in the country”.

THE RISING PROFILE OF OKONJO IWEALA

The choice of Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister for the Economy Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala as Silverbird Group’s Man of the Year is a feat earned through a cocktail of daring economic policies by the Goodluck Jonathan administration especially in 2012, reports Festus Akanbi

A few moments after the impasse on the 2013 budget was resolved, a few government functionaries who first emerged from the Presidential Villa, venue of the closed-door meeting, where the budget was signed, included the Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

CONTROVERSY OVER NEW FIRS CHAIRMAN

Ministry Shortlists Six Candidates, Drops Incumbent Boss; North Kicks

CONTRARY to the conventional practice, the Ministry of Finance may, Sunday, conduct a final interview for six shortlisted candidates vying for the chairmanship of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).

This is the first time such interview and selection process will be adopted for the FIRS or related appointment in Federal parastatals and MDAs.

The outcome of Sunday’s exercise is expected to help the Ministry zero in on just one of the candidates.

OKONJO-IWEALA, SANUSI BEMOAN POWER SHORTAGE

The Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Mallam Lamido Sanusi yesterday decried the adverse effects of shortage of power supply in the country.

Okonjo-Iweala said the power situation needed to be improved for the economy to move forward. Also, Sanusi bemoaned the power situation, saying that no bank would give a loan to a company that has no power to run its business. Both spoke yesterday in Lagos at the 4th Renaissance Capital Annual Pan African Investors’ Conference.

POLICE DETONATE PARCEL BOMB ADDRESSED TO OKONJO-IWEALA

• CP says no explosion in Abuja

IT looked like one of the mails that pass through the post office.  It bore two stamps that lent it credence.

But a second look, and curiosity was roused.  Both the intended recipient and the contents of the parcel elicited interest.

The parcel was addressed to the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and its contents were two suspected Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).

The anti-bomb squad of the Nigeria Police on Monday detonated the two IEDs in the parcel that was planted directly in front of the post office in Area 10, Garki, Abuja.