Former Minister for Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy under President Goodluck Jonathan, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has responded to the broadside of Lagos Lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, with even more acrid words. She described Falana’s attempt to drag her into the Dasukigate scandal as malicious and called Falana an “integrity-challenged charlatan”.

In a strongly-worded reply signed by her Media Aide, Mr. Paul Nwabuiku, the former minister described

Falana as a man suffering from “Chronic Cerebral Amnesia (CCA) because he simply has no grasp of the facts.”

Full text below:

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