President Obasanjo removed Ngozi Okonjo Iweala as minister of finance today according to sources in Abuja. Ngozi Iweala has been finance minister since 2003 when president Obasanjo won a second term in office in an election tainted with fraud and serious irregularities.
President Obasanjo removed Ngozi Okonjo Iweala as minister of finance today according to sources in Abuja. Ngozi Iweala has been finance minister since 2003 when president Obasanjo won a second term in office in an election tainted with fraud and serious irregularities.
The president recently lost out in an attempt to change the constitution for him to remain in office for an extra four years, it is not clear if her removal was due to the failed "third term" project or the controversial shady deals involving unauthorized withdrawals from the nation'ss foreign reserve. The president might have moved her to douse the controversy, since the presidency seem to be speaking from both sides of their mouth regarding the withdrawals.
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Recently Mrs. Okonjo Iweala has been under serious scrutiny from the local press and lawmakers over questionable withdrawals from Nigeria’s foreign reserve put at $34 billion dollars, it was believed that these withdrawals might have been used in funding the bribery of lawmakers in the national assembly to support the “third term” agenda of President Obasanjo. Also last week lawmakers raised alarm over the size of Nigeria’s foreign reserve which the Central Bank Governor, Charles Soludo and Mrs. Okonjo Iweala put at $34 billion, some of the lawmakers led by Senator Farouk Bello-Munza insisted that only $9 billion dollars was available in the foreign reserve accusing the minister of grand deception.
Just yesterday, the combative minister addressed the press about the current situation of the foreign reserve, but the issue did not die down as she had expected. Saharareporters called the minister to seek her opinion about what obviously was a downgrade of her position, a male voice who refused to be identified said she was too busy to speak to this reporter, insisting that she busy handing over to the new finance minister, Mrs. Usman who was her deputy in the ministry.
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