A new book written by a former Finance Minister and Coordinating
Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has revealed
insider details that will impact Nigeria’s political economy for a
very long time.
According to the book titled, ‘Fighting Corruption is Dangerous:
The Story Behind the Headlines,’ which is meant to contribute to
the global understanding of the challenges that reformers face when
fighting corruption in developing countries, former President
Goodluck Jonathan’s concession in the 2015 elections to President
Muhammadu Buhari was a decision he reached on his own with little
or no prodding from outside forces.
In the book, which went public last week to readers who had
pre-ordered it, Okonjo-Iweala detailed what happened on that
fateful day when unknown to all present at the presidential
residence in Aso Villa on March 31, 2015, the then president had
already spoken to his rival in the presidential election, Buhari,
and conceded while various high level government officials and
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) bigwigs were discussing whether or
not he should concede.
Okonjo-Iweala revealed that with the room full of people giving
conflicting advice, she leaned towards the president, who was
seated by her, to impress it upon him the importance of conceding
before the results were completely collated and announced, and that
he listened to her whispered words and then spoke loudly in
response to the hearing of everyone in the room, “It is done. A few
minutes ago, I called to congratulate President-elect Buhari.”
The former finance minister’s accounts are consistent with the
recollections of her then colleague, Osita Chidoka, who was
Minister of Aviation.
In her book, the former finance minister also recalled the
support she got from Jonathan over her refusal to pay spurious
subsidy claims and bogus judgment debts to oil marketers and other
individuals respectively.
While admitting that certain high level persons were convicted,
the book expresses frustration that not more corrupt people were
convicted during the Jonathan administration even while
acknowledging that this may have been due largely to the slow pace
of the Nigerian judiciary.
The much-awaited book, which the minister describes as “a
personal account of an important aspect of my work in government –
fighting corruption” renders the moving and insightful tale of her
experiences while serving in the Jonathan government.
The former minister states in her book that she was inspired to
write the book in order to make sense for herself and others who
have asked to know what was behind the attacks she suffered after
leaving office, to highlight the efforts made by the Jonathan
administration to fight corruption based on her personal
experience, and to “shed light on the perils, pitfalls, and
successes of confronting corruption”.
According to Okonjo-Iweala, the book “provides lessons for those
seeking to stop corruption and enshrine transparency and good
governance in their work” especially finance ministers “who often
do a risky jobs and rarely speak out, saying no to colleagues,
cabinet members, civil servants, politicians – and even their
bosses, the president or prime minister”.
Okonjo-Iweala believes that as risky as it was to serve and
fight corruption, in spite of the dangers and difficulties, “it was
worth it because institutions, systems, and processes that can
endure were built for Nigeria, and substantial monies saved”.
Okonjo-Iweala goes on to state that the vast majority of
Nigerians are honest, hardworking people that just want the
government to provide basic services, and then get out of their way
so that they can take care of themselves. “These people deserve
strong institutions that can protect them from corruption.”
She said in the book: “For me, it was also an issue of personal
responsibility. I believe that the fight against corruption must
start with individuals who choose to take responsibility.
“Years of development experience have shown me that regardless of
the instruments, such as incentives and disincentives, that are
available to reformers, corruption cannot be fought successfully
from the outside or by outsiders. It must be by ‘insiders and from
the inside’.”
The former minister goes on to narrate some of the personal acts
of intimidation that she was subjected to because of her insistence
on implementing reforms and insisting that the right things should
be done. One of the most direct examples was the dramatic and
traumatic kidnap of her eighty-three-year-old mother in broad
daylight at the country home in Ogwashi-Ukwu.
“They asked my brother to tell me to announce on national
television and radio that I was resigning from my job as finance
minister and leaving the country,” she revealed when the kidnappers
eventually made contact.
The reason behind the kidnap was that, with the support of
Jonathan, she had convened a taskforce that audited fiscal accounts
and detected fraudulent claims for oil subsidy payments which she
refused to pay.
The Technical Committee led by Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukuede,
Managing Director of Access Bank, to verify and reconcile the N1.3
trillion ($8.4 billion) subsidy claims by oil marketers for 2011
revealed “ghost vessels” that never supplied any products, lack of
shipping documents or evidence of payments for the products in
foreign exchange. It found that N382 billion was fraudulent and
should be recovered from the 107 oil marketing companies.
Upon release, her mother reported that the kidnappers gave two
reasons for the kidnap: “Your daughter refused to pay oil
marketers, and she did not pay SURE-P money.”
The second instance was the plan by some oil importers and
marketers to render her paralysed and in a wheelchair. The minister
revealed how a few months after the release of her mother, she got
a tip of a meeting where a plan to “inflict maximum physical damage
short of killing her” because she was withholding subsidy
payments.
In her capacity as Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister
for the Economy, and based on the hard work of economic team
members and various ministry of finance officials who worked with
her, Okonjo-Iweala led and coordinated initiatives that saved the
country about $2.5 billion from corruption and fraudulent
transactions including blocking of payment for fraudulent claims by
oil marketers, $1.5 billion from expunging ghost workers and
pensions and refusing to pay phony judgment debts and $5 billion by
refusing to guarantee proposed loans by international scammers and
refusal to accept dubious grants. Collectively, according to her,
the efforts saved the country over $9 billion.
The former minister, in her book, also revealed how Atedo
Peterside, then Chairman of Stanbic-IBTC, relayed the request for
her to work for the Jonathan administration, the “friendly” advice
of Donald Duke, the former governor of Cross Rivers State, that she
should refuse and the ensuing media attacks on her reputation by
Sahara Reporters when it became apparent that she was giving the
offer serious consideration.
She narrated that she was reluctant at first but was moved to
accept the president’s offer to come back because of the following
reasons. One, President Jonathan’s patriotic and emotional pitch to
her that during one of her telephone conversations: “I am not
asking you to come and work for Jonathan. This is not about
Jonathan. It is about helping your country.”
Two, her father, a patriotic Nigerian and believer in the
country was in support, stating that it was her chance to further
use her expertise to help improve the economy and the lives of less
fortunate Nigerians. The third reason was the possibility of
completing the work of building “institutions, systems, and
processes to stem revenue leakages from the budget” which had
slowed down considerably after she resigned under the Olusegun
Obasanjo administration.
The initiatives included the Government Integrated Financial
Management System (GIFMIS), the Integrated Personnel and Payroll
Management Information System (IPPIS), and the Treasury Single
Account (TSA). When she eventually made up her mind, she was
upfront on asking that the president create an economic team to
support the reforms and also grant her regular access to him to
discuss important issues.
Okonjo-Iweala also revealed in the book the frosty relationship
that existed between her and officials of the Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). The hostility was largely because of
the lack of transparency in the operations of NNPC and the Ministry
of Petroleum Resources – a problem that for long bedevilled the
country. At the heart of this were the discrepancies in revenue
numbers.
She wrote: “In 2012, in addition to the serious issues of the
oil subsidy fraud, tensions began to rise in FAAC meetings over the
lower-than-projected disbursements of oil revenues to the
Federation accounts.”
She stated that investigations by the finance ministry revealed
an average shortfall of N160 billion per annum, which according to
NNPC’s explanations was due to oil theft and pipeline vandalism.
She revealed that her attempts to get accountability for the
development put her at crossroads with NNPC officials.
She described “trying to bring transparency and accountability
to this sector” as “probably one of the most stressful and
dangerous tasks of my job as finance minister!”
Fighting Corruption is Dangerous: The Story Behind the
Headlines, is billed to be released by MIT University Press on
April 20, 2018 and is already widely anticipated in global
leadership and financial circles with former British Prime Minister
and Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, and billionaire
businessman and transparency and governance guru Mo Ibrahim
endorsing the book.
A new book written by a former Finance Minister and Coordinating
Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has revealed
insider details that will impact Nigeria’s political economy for a
very long time.
According to the book titled, ‘Fighting Corruption is Dangerous:
The Story Behind the Headlines,’ which is meant to contribute to
the global understanding of the challenges that reformers face when
fighting corruption in developing countries, former President
Goodluck Jonathan’s concession in the 2015 elections to President
Muhammadu Buhari was a decision he reached on his own with little
or no prodding from outside forces.
In the book, which went public last week to readers who had
pre-ordered it, Okonjo-Iweala detailed what happened on that
fateful day when unknown to all present at the presidential
residence in Aso Villa on March 31, 2015, the then president had
already spoken to his rival in the presidential election, Buhari,
and conceded while various high level government officials and
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) bigwigs were discussing whether or
not he should concede.
Okonjo-Iweala revealed that with the room full of people giving
conflicting advice, she leaned towards the president, who was
seated by her, to impress it upon him the importance of conceding
before the results were completely collated and announced, and that
he listened to her whispered words and then spoke loudly in
response to the hearing of everyone in the room, “It is done. A few
minutes ago, I called to congratulate President-elect Buhari.”
The former finance minister’s accounts are consistent with the
recollections of her then colleague, Osita Chidoka, who was
Minister of Aviation.
In her book, the former finance minister also recalled the
support she got from Jonathan over her refusal to pay spurious
subsidy claims and bogus judgment debts to oil marketers and other
individuals respectively.
While admitting that certain high level persons were convicted,
the book expresses frustration that not more corrupt people were
convicted during the Jonathan administration even while
acknowledging that this may have been due largely to the slow pace
of the Nigerian judiciary.
The much-awaited book, which the minister describes as “a
personal account of an important aspect of my work in government –
fighting corruption” renders the moving and insightful tale of her
experiences while serving in the Jonathan government.
The former minister states in her book that she was inspired to
write the book in order to make sense for herself and others who
have asked to know what was behind the attacks she suffered after
leaving office, to highlight the efforts made by the Jonathan
administration to fight corruption based on her personal
experience, and to “shed light on the perils, pitfalls, and
successes of confronting corruption”.
According to Okonjo-Iweala, the book “provides lessons for those
seeking to stop corruption and enshrine transparency and good
governance in their work” especially finance ministers “who often
do a risky jobs and rarely speak out, saying no to colleagues,
cabinet members, civil servants, politicians – and even their
bosses, the president or prime minister”.
Okonjo-Iweala believes that as risky as it was to serve and
fight corruption, in spite of the dangers and difficulties, “it was
worth it because institutions, systems, and processes that can
endure were built for Nigeria, and substantial monies saved”.
Okonjo-Iweala goes on to state that the vast majority of
Nigerians are honest, hardworking people that just want the
government to provide basic services, and then get out of their way
so that they can take care of themselves. “These people deserve
strong institutions that can protect them from corruption.”
She said in the book: “For me, it was also an issue of personal
responsibility. I believe that the fight against corruption must
start with individuals who choose to take responsibility.
“Years of development experience have shown me that regardless of
the instruments, such as incentives and disincentives, that are
available to reformers, corruption cannot be fought successfully
from the outside or by outsiders. It must be by ‘insiders and from
the inside’.”
The former minister goes on to narrate some of the personal acts
of intimidation that she was subjected to because of her insistence
on implementing reforms and insisting that the right things should
be done. One of the most direct examples was the dramatic and
traumatic kidnap of her eighty-three-year-old mother in broad
daylight at the country home in Ogwashi-Ukwu.
“They asked my brother to tell me to announce on national
television and radio that I was resigning from my job as finance
minister and leaving the country,” she revealed when the kidnappers
eventually made contact.
The reason behind the kidnap was that, with the support of
Jonathan, she had convened a taskforce that audited fiscal accounts
and detected fraudulent claims for oil subsidy payments which she
refused to pay.
The Technical Committee led by Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukuede,
Managing Director of Access Bank, to verify and reconcile the N1.3
trillion ($8.4 billion) subsidy claims by oil marketers for 2011
revealed “ghost vessels” that never supplied any products, lack of
shipping documents or evidence of payments for the products in
foreign exchange. It found that N382 billion was fraudulent and
should be recovered from the 107 oil marketing companies.
Upon release, her mother reported that the kidnappers gave two
reasons for the kidnap: “Your daughter refused to pay oil
marketers, and she did not pay SURE-P money.”
The second instance was the plan by some oil importers and
marketers to render her paralysed and in a wheelchair. The minister
revealed how a few months after the release of her mother, she got
a tip of a meeting where a plan to “inflict maximum physical damage
short of killing her” because she was withholding subsidy
payments.
In her capacity as Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister
for the Economy, and based on the hard work of economic team
members and various ministry of finance officials who worked with
her, Okonjo-Iweala led and coordinated initiatives that saved the
country about $2.5 billion from corruption and fraudulent
transactions including blocking of payment for fraudulent claims by
oil marketers, $1.5 billion from expunging ghost workers and
pensions and refusing to pay phony judgment debts and $5 billion by
refusing to guarantee proposed loans by international scammers and
refusal to accept dubious grants. Collectively, according to her,
the efforts saved the country over $9 billion.
The former minister, in her book, also revealed how Atedo
Peterside, then Chairman of Stanbic-IBTC, relayed the request for
her to work for the Jonathan administration, the “friendly” advice
of Donald Duke, the former governor of Cross Rivers State, that she
should refuse and the ensuing media attacks on her reputation by
Sahara Reporters when it became apparent that she was giving the
offer serious consideration.
She narrated that she was reluctant at first but was moved to
accept the president’s offer to come back because of the following
reasons. One, President Jonathan’s patriotic and emotional pitch to
her that during one of her telephone conversations: “I am not
asking you to come and work for Jonathan. This is not about
Jonathan. It is about helping your country.”
Two, her father, a patriotic Nigerian and believer in the
country was in support, stating that it was her chance to further
use her expertise to help improve the economy and the lives of less
fortunate Nigerians. The third reason was the possibility of
completing the work of building “institutions, systems, and
processes to stem revenue leakages from the budget” which had
slowed down considerably after she resigned under the Olusegun
Obasanjo administration.
The initiatives included the Government Integrated Financial
Management System (GIFMIS), the Integrated Personnel and Payroll
Management Information System (IPPIS), and the Treasury Single
Account (TSA). When she eventually made up her mind, she was
upfront on asking that the president create an economic team to
support the reforms and also grant her regular access to him to
discuss important issues.
Okonjo-Iweala also revealed in the book the frosty relationship
that existed between her and officials of the Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). The hostility was largely because of
the lack of transparency in the operations of NNPC and the Ministry
of Petroleum Resources – a problem that for long bedevilled the
country. At the heart of this were the discrepancies in revenue
numbers.
She wrote: “In 2012, in addition to the serious issues of the
oil subsidy fraud, tensions began to rise in FAAC meetings over the
lower-than-projected disbursements of oil revenues to the
Federation accounts.”
She stated that investigations by the finance ministry revealed
an average shortfall of N160 billion per annum, which according to
NNPC’s explanations was due to oil theft and pipeline vandalism.
She revealed that her attempts to get accountability for the
development put her at crossroads with NNPC officials.
She described “trying to bring transparency and accountability
to this sector” as “probably one of the most stressful and
dangerous tasks of my job as finance minister!”
Fighting Corruption is Dangerous: The Story Behind the
Headlines, is billed to be released by MIT University Press on
April 20, 2018 and is already widely anticipated in global
leadership and financial circles with former British Prime Minister
and Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, and billionaire
businessman and transparency and governance guru Mo Ibrahim
endorsing the book.
Read more https://nairalaw.com/how-jonathan-conceded-2015-election-book-by-okonjo-iweala-reveals/