The Co-ordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala yesterday said that she would not respond to former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Dr Chukwuma Soludo’s accusation over the missing N30 trillion under her watch.
In a radio programme, ‘Political Platform’ on African Independent Television (AIT) aired yesterday, the minister said that she would not join issues with what did not happen.
However, Okonjo-Iweala admitted that Nigerians would face some hardship following the drop in the international oil price.
She said the withdrawal of the Medium Term Fiscal Framework (MTEF) was to accommodate the volatility in the oil market, noting that some civil servants received their salaries late because the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) machine locked out some 15 agencies who may have fed the machine with names outside the original list. Soludo had earlier alleged that over N30 trillion was stolen under the watch of the minister.
Okonjo-Iweala had, in a statement said Soludo bungled the bank consolidation policy of the Obasanjo administration, saying that the former CBN governor is an embittered loser in the political space.
In his statement entitled: ‘Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and the missing trillions’, Soludo said the sharp decline in the naira-dollar exchange rate from 158 a few months ago to 215 currently showed that trouble was already at the doorstep, adding that unless oil price recovers, “this is just the beginning,” “For the sake of Nigeria, I won’t keep quiet anymore!” he said. – The Sun.
