Soludo: Now, Okonjo-Iweala will sit up

Charles Soludo, a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and former Anambra state governorship aspirant, says his recent criticism of the economy under Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, has brought about a change.

Maintaining that he achieved his intended objective for opening cans of worm, Soludo expressed optimism that there would be an improvement in the country.

“I am convinced that our economic management won’t be the same again. Once our managers know that the citizens will rigorously and vigorously challenge them to account; the welfare of the citizens will be better for it,” he said.

“This debate has challenged the respective teams to seriously re-examine their blueprints to guarantee the security and prosperity of every Nigerian; my objective is accomplished.

“My attention has been drawn to statements credited to the minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, in response to my latest article and call for a structured debate on the issues.

“According to the report, she no longer wants to join issues with me.  In the circumstance of the moment, I therefore withhold parts two and three of my promised three-part response.”

However, he said even though he would no longer engage Okonjo-Iweala on issues, he was standing by his earlier statements.

“Let me also state for the avoidance of doubt that I stand by every statement I made in the two articles viz: (1) “Buhari Vs Jonathan: Beyond the Elections”; and (2) “Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and the Missing Trillions,” he said.

“In particular, I insist that over N30 trillion has either been stolen or unaccounted for, or grossly mismanaged over the last few years. This figure does not include the estimated $40.9 billion (N8.6 trillion at parallel market exchange rate or nearly two years’ Federal Government budget) which the African Union’s (AU) recent report claims to be “stolen” from Nigeria each year.

“This is election time and it is expected that some vested interests will either choose to live in denial or attempt to politicise the issues.”

Having responded swiftly to his criticisms in the past, Okonjo-Iweala had referred to the most recent as packaged lies, vowing to henceforth ignore Soludo.