Transition Committee Chairman, Ahmed Joda, said his panel did not
find anything to believe a former Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi
Okonjo-Iweala, was guilty of graft. Okonjo-Iweala served last in the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan. Joda, who spoke with select journalists in Yola, Adamawa State,
said the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, which had beamed its
searchlight on the last administration, might never find Okonjo-Iweala
guilty of any wrongdoing, despite the various financial malfeasances
that had been traced to the Jonathan administration.
However, Joda expressed surprise at Okonjo-Iweala’s, action of not
resigning her position even when it became obvious that many people in
the administration were not acting in good conscience. Joda said this while responding to a suggestion on whether or not
Buhari could bring back the likes of the former Finance Minister to help
the administration fix the economy. Joda said despite the perfidy committed by some persons during the
administration, Okonjo-Iweala always sought presidential approval, and
by so doing shielded herself. He noted that such tactfulness from her made it difficult for anyone, including the EFCC, to be able to link her with fraud.
He said, “Okonjo-Iweala is a professional and she guarded herself, if
you look at what she did. Whenever, they said this happened she was
able to produce papers to say, ‘look oh!’ We had a meeting, presided
over by the President and attended by the National Security Adviser and
others. And we agreed. “And she would go back and write the President and say, ‘I have
received a request to release so many billions in accordance with our
minutes. Your Excellency, if you will approve.’ And His Excellency would
approve it. So, she covered herself, thus you can’t pin anything on
her.”
Joda said Jonathan’s misdemeanour was because he gave presidential
approval to virtually everything his aides came to seek from him.
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