“Missing” N30 Trillion: Okonjo-Iweala Heads To Court
Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala at Franco-African forum at the Economy Ministry in Paris on February 6, 2015. [/caption]
Immediate past Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, says she has headed to court to challenge the decision of the Federal High Court asking the her and the Goodluck Jonathan administration to account for ‘missing’ N30trillion.
The Socio-Economic Rights Agenda (SERAP) had through a Freedom of Information Act request dragged Okonjo-Iweala and the past administration to account for the alleged missing sum.
However in a statement on Monday, signed by Paul C Nwabuikwu, Media Adviser to Dr Okonjo-Iweala, she noted that she was never served any notice on the court matter and such request could not be rooted to her as she was no longer in government by July, 2015 when the request was allegedly made.
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The statement reads: “Our attention has been drawn to media reports regarding a court judgment alleged to have been entered against the Federal Government of Nigeria and Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in respect of an action by the Socio-Economic Rights Agenda (SERAP) pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act.
“The High Court, according to the media reports, ordered the Federal government and Dr. Okonjo Iweala to provide information relating to N30 trillion Naira allegedly unaccounted for.
“Dr Okonjo-Iweala hastens to state that she was never served with any court processes in relation to the said matter. She has not read the judgment and would therefore defer any comments on the matter.
“However from the media reports, the case was instituted in February 2015 but was not served until July 2015 after Dr Okonjo-Iweala had already ceased to be the Minister of Finance.
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“By the date the said papers were purportedly served Dr Okonjo-Iweala was no longer a public officer and could therefore not be the subject of a request for production of any documents or information under the Freedom of information Act.
“The Court processes must have been served on others because the attention of Dr Okonjo-Iweala was never drawn to the matter in which she appears to have been sued personally. She therefore did not engage any lawyer to act for her in the matter.
“The decision of SERAP to anchor its case on a baseless and unsubstantiated allegation by former CBN governor Professor Charles Soludo that N30 trillion – about seven times the total annual budget during the Jonathan administration – is missing confirms SERAP’s dubious motives and its role as a tool for politically motivated actors.
“It is curious that the first time Dr Okonjo-Iweala is being made aware of a matter filed against her in court is in news reports reporting the delivery of judgment. She has instructed her lawyers to take steps to set aside the judgment as it affects her.”
