Soludo’s allegation on mismanagement of N30trn – The Sun

Renowned economists all over the world bring their wealth of knowl­edge to bear on economic issues in their countries. They, however, sometimes have divergent opinions on the same issues, especially when contro­versial matters relating to the manage­ment of their national economies become enmeshed in politics. This also happens when economies go adrift, and become needful of urgent monetary and fiscal poli­cies to keep them afloat. But, when diver­gent views on economic matters become unduly antagonistic and combative, they defeat the goal of contributing to healthy debates on the economy.

Sadly, the recent face-off between the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Prof. Charles Chukwuma Soludo, and the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, fell into the realm of unhealthy grandstanding and rivalry that cannot serve the best interest of our coun­try.

The point of departure between the duo, who are erudite economists in their own rights, is the state of the Nigerian economy as we head towards the presidential elec­tion that has now been shifted to March 28. Soludo had, in response to the Finance Minister’s rebuttal of his earlier criticism of the management of the economy by the Goodluck Jonathan administration, al­leged that over N30 trillion had either been stolen or lost, unaccounted for or simply mismanaged.

Soludo further argued that about $60 billion was stolen in four years. He tasked the Finance Minister to, among other things, say what she knows about the “missing trillions”. The Finance Minister, in response, accused Soludo of aggravat­ing the nation’s banking crisis and leaving a liability of over N5 trillion.

Although Soludo has now decided to withhold further statements on the mat­ter following the Minister’s decision not to continue with the debate which their exchange generated, his claim about the mismanagement of N30 trillion is weighty and should not be swept under the carpet. It, indeed, raises serious concerns about the handling of the nation’s finances.

The amount involved in this worrisome altercation between the two economists is too high to be ignored. Thirty trillion naira is more than the total Federal Budget for the last seven years.

Soludo should, therefore, have made a full disclosure of this matter, rather than abruptly withholding parts 2 and 3 of his promised three-part response, just be­cause the Finance Minister decided not to further join issues with him on the matter.

We think it would have been in the pub­lic interest and that of Soludo himself if he had gone ahead to provide more details on his claims, at least to prove that his alle­gation was not frivolous or politically-mo­tivated.

Considering the seriousness of this al­legation, incontrovertible proof that N30 trillion was mismanaged is necessary. The abrupt end to Soludo’s disclosures on the alleged mismanagement of public funds suggests that he might have been driven by less than altruistic motives. Nonethe­less, this worrisome accusation should not be trifled with.

It will be recalled that this is not the first time that Soludo will be criticizing an of­ficial of the Jonathan administration on the management of the economy. In 2011, for instance, he took on the then Minister of Finance, Dr. Olusegun Aganga. He claimed that the Nigerian economy was “sinking” under Aganga’s watch and called for ur­gent measures to stop the drift.

As with the present face-off, Aganga and Soludo fought dirty in the media. This, cer­tainly, ought not to be the spirit. Govern­ment officials ought to accept criticism in good faith, while critics should be civil and use formal channels to express their views.

In all, we see no reason for the alterca­tion between Soludo and Okonjo-Iweala. Government should take more than a cur­sory look at Soludo’s claims and call for more information that could guide an in­vestigation into the allegation.

There is no doubt that the economy is one of the major issues in the coming elections, and the people have the right to ventilate their opinions. But, such com­mentaries should be within the bounds of decency and in the overall interest of the country. It should not take the form of at­tacks on personalities.

Sound economic management requires the ability to take good advice and separate economic issues from partisan politics. It will serve the people well if government heeds warnings from economic experts. In the same vein, those who wish to advise the government on the economy should do so with verifiable facts, and without politi­cal or malicious intent.

The exchange between the former CBN Governor and the Finance Minister shows that there are a lot of questions on the management of the nation’s resources by the Federal Government.

With Soludo’s insistence that N30 trillion is not properly accounted for, we urge the Federal Government to provide detailed information on all accruals and issuances from the Federation Account in the past four years. This, we believe, will clarify some of the issues raised by Soludo and, perhaps, lay the controversy on the “miss­ing trillions” to rest.