The coordinating minister for the economy
and minister of finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-
Iweala, has said she is not planning to
resign from her position.
Okonjo-Iweala, who briefed journalists on
the state of the economy, yesterday said
she was not ready to be drawn into
political issues as she has a job to do in
managing the nation’s economy, adding
that she works for President Goodluck
Jonathan and was therefore answerable to
him. Replying to the call by Rivers State
governor Rotimi Amaechi-led Nigeria
Governors’ Forum (NGF) to resign, the
minister said that the economy remained
strong despite the current shortfalls in
revenues.
But a member of Plateau State governor
Jonah Jang-led NGF and Delta State
governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, yesterday
rose in defence of the minister, insisting
that all the revenue-collecting agencies of
the federal government should be asked to
provide answers for the bad state of the
economy.
The Amaechi-led NGF had, in a five-point
communiqué at the end of its meeting at
the Rivers State Governor’s Lodge, in
Asokoro, Abuja, asked the finance minister
to resign if she could not redress the
situation by adhering strictly to the
contents of the Appropriation Act.
But Uduaghan who spoke to newsmen in
Lagos yesterday insisted that the Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC,
should account for where all the revenue
generated through crude oil sales had
gone.
Okonjo-Iweala maintained that the budget
is only an estimate of spending based on
expected revenues and are dependent on
two major variables, oil production volume
and price in the international market, both
of which are beyond the control of the
Ministry of Finance.
“Nigeria produces oil from the ground and
sells it at a price in the international
market. These two variables are not under
the control of the Ministry of Finance,” she
said, noting that while the price of crude oil
has not been an issue, the level of
production has been below the budgeted
estimates.
“I will not involve myself in political issues
with the state governors. We are here to
manage the economy for the good of the
nation and what we are doing here is
based on facts on the ground. I am minister
for the economy, I am working for
President Goodluck Jonathan and I am
answerable to him. Do I look like someone
who is preparing to resign? I am not
resigning; I dey kampe. I have a very
committed and dedicated team and so I am
not going to respond to such issues,” she
stated.
“We are taking a prudent approach because
that is what other countries are doing so
we are not caught off guard in the face of
volatilities and uncertainties.”
Uduaghan also said, “There was a call by
some of my colleagues yesterday on the
minister of finance to resign if she cannot
manage the economy. While I know that
this month’s FAAC meeting has been
suspended indefinitely as there is not
enough money available to share, calling
on the minister to resign is not the way to
go.
“’We know that this year’s budget is
predicated on the sale of 2.3 million barrels
of crude oil at the benchmark of $79, but
we have been consistently selling the
product above $100. While we complain of
theft of about 400,000 barrels of crude oil,
I know that we have been able to reduce
the theft to about 80,000 barrels.
“The question that we should ask ourselves
as a nation and directed at the NNPC is:
where has all the money gone, to the
extent that we cannot hold FAAC meeting
this month,’’ Uduaghan said.
He said that the implication of the grim
financial position of the economy is that
some states may not be in a position to pay
workers’ salary at the end of the month.
While Uduaghan admitted that the world
economy is undergoing tremendous stress
now due to high unemployment,
particularly among the youths, he
wondered why the country would be broke
when most of the revenue-collecting
agencies of government are doing fine.
He, however, said that Delta State has been
pro-active in looking at how to generate
revenue without depending on the federal
government.
“We have been in the forefront of looking
at how to generate revenue beyond oil, and
that is why we have been championing
Delta State Beyond Oil, which the federal
government is now trying to key into,” he
said.
On the crisis rocking the Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP, Governor Uduaghan
said the crisis would be resolved with time
but described what happened at the
National Assembly on Tuesday as
unfortunate.
Uduaghan also supported the call for a
national conference where Nigerians would
sit at a roundtable and discuss the various
crises rocking the country and the way
forward.
“I have been calling for a national
conference in the past three years and now
that other leaders are thinking in that line
now, it is better. We need to sit down and
talk,’’ Uduaghan said.
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