Oshiomhole: Okonjo-Iweala didn’t save for the rainy day

Adams Oshiomhole, governor of Edo state, has said Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the immediate past minister of finance and the coordinating minister for the economy, did not save for the rainy day.

The governor insisted that if Nigerians say the governors were extravagant in spending and did not save for austere times, what about the minister who was in charge of over 50 percent of oil produce.

While speaking on Channels television’s ‘View From the Top’, he said “Okonjo told quarter of the truth”, failing to tell Nigerians that the federal government was in as bad a shape as the states.

“When analysts and commentators allude to the facts which everybody can see that many states, maybe as much as two-thirds of the states, are not up to date in payment of salaries, allowances and other obligations to their work force, what is not often stated is the fact that the federal government is just in the same bad shape,” he said.

“The only thing for us is that under the immediate past minister of finance, they have borrowed rather recklessly in trillions of naira to meet wage obligation of the federal government.

“The correct evaluation is that both federal and states, mainly, are all able to meet wage obligations within their legitimate income because to pay salaries does not amount to buoyancy; it simply shows that you have postponed the evil day or you have transferred the burden to future generations.

“For example [former] president Jonathan can be said to appeal wages, only to the extent that Minister Okonjo Iweala borrowed from CBN, from various bonds instrument, including drawing down over N3 trillion from pension fund. So civil servant savings, what we call the workers’ capital in the trade union parlance, is what the former minister has drawn from heavily to fund the wages of federal employees.”

When faced with Okonjo-Iweala’s statement that Nigerian governors did not allow for saving for the rainy day, as they always wanted proceeds of the excess crude account, the former labour congress president said it was not totally true.

“That is one-quarter of the truth. What you should have asked her is that if they assume that the federal government is a responsible manager who believe in rainy day under Okonjo-Iweala and you have the Adams and the 35 others who are reckless, you should have ask her where is the federal savings from the rainy day?

“If the states spent their own 26% because all the 36 states plus Abuja, the 37 of us we share 26%, for every 100 hundred Nigeria earns, 36 state governors share 26 naira, N52.6 goes to the federal government plus ecology and other deductions.

“This is to say about other organisations whose funds ought to flow directly into the federation account and they never flow there – Nigeria port authority, various institutions, the health sectors, maritime sector, NNPC, various agencies, the gas sector – all of these ought to flow into the federation account and it never got there.

“The governors have control over their share which is 26%, Mr. federal government has control over 52.6%, where is Okonjo-Iweala’s savings of federal portion? If she can show where she saved it, then you can proceed to say she was right. She didn’t save for the federal government for the rainy day.

Oshiomhole added that the minister was not transparent with published accounts, and urged Buhari to ruthlessly prohibit the importation of rice and other food crops that can be produced in Nigeria.

“This government has to take very bold steps. If you ask me, I think president Buhari should immediately prohibit, and I would use the word ‘ruthlessly’ enforce the prohibition because if you cannot enforce, don’t prohibit. Prohibit the importation of rice and of any other food that we can grow in Nigeria.”

Speaking on NNPC-owned refineries, the 63-year-old said the refineries should be sold since NNPC could not incorruptibly manage the refineries.

“Stop stealing in the name of subsidy, it can be stopped. It has not always been here with us. I think I want to leave this issue to the president; this president was a former petroleum minister, so he is not so much a stranger even though a lot of things have change.

“We should stop importing products; we should find a realistic solution to the ownership problem and management of our refineries. NNPC cannot manage these refineries; sell them off.”