Tag Archives: Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

‘I can’t serve in Buhari’s government.’ – Ngozi Okonjo Iweala

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Former Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has opposed the idea of her accepting a political appointment from President Muhammadu Buhari.
She said she has proudly served the nation to the best of her ability for seven years, and will not take any offer to serve in the Nigerian government again.

Speaking as a guest on Al-Jazeera, Okonjo-Iweala said she has learnt to talk less as she has grown older.

When was asked if she would take a position in the Buhari administration if offered, she said: “I served my country for seven years and it was a great honor. The second time was very tough but it is still an honor. I am not the only person who is a repository of knowledge. There are other people who can equally try their hands in running the economy.”

“One of the things you learn as you get wiser is to talk less as you grow older. I have spent my time contributing to the country. It will be better to leave those managing the economy to do what they know how to do. There can be solutions,” she added.

On how she fought corruption, the former minister said, with the help of her economic team, she tried her best, admitting that it was tough.

Okonjo-Iweala joins US investment bank

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Former Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has disclosed that she is joining United States financial advisory and asset management bank, Lazard.

She has also been appointed chair-elect of the board of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, founded by Bill and Melinda Gates.

“The two appointments I’m going to undertake embody a continuation of what I’ve tried to do in my career”, she told the Financial Times.

“My work at Gavi will help me continue my work in strengthening institutions and building systems to improve the health of children through immunisation,” she said.

At Lazard, she would advise countries on structuring their finances and dealing with debt issues, the newspaper wrote.

Lazard plc. said in a statement on Monday that Okonjo-Iweala, 61, will join as a senior advisor focusing on the bank’s sovereign advisory group.

“She will bring a unique international expertise and experience that will benefit both our sovereign and corporate clients,” Matthieu Pigasse, Lazard’s global head of mergers and acquisitions and sovereign advisory, said in the statement.

 

 

 

FG To Pay Outstanding Allowances To Petroleum Marketers In 24 Hours

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It appears the long wait at fuel stations may soon be reversed as the Federal Government says it will be paying petroleum marketers the sum of 156 billion naira.

Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who spoke with reporters in Abuja, said that all outstanding payments to the marketers will be resolved as well.

She appealed to them to bear with the Federal Government as it tries to prioritise its policies in the face of dwindling revenues.

Okonjo-Iweala Is Frustrating Governors, Says Fashola

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Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, western Nigeria has accused the Nigerian Minister of Finance and Co-ordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, of frustrating state governments in the country by denying them access to funds for development.

Fashola said Okonjo-Iweala’s actions are political and meant to starve states of funds for development primarily to create financial challenges in states ahead of the elections.

The governor, who was at the State House of Assembly Tuesday evening, to inform the lawmakers about the current state of the Nigerian economy, lamented that the economy had been run aground by the President Goodluck Jonathan administration and that as a result, the state has to maintain some level of austerity.

“Today the Honourable Minister for Finance, if any honour still attaches to her actions, has stopped Nigerian banks from funding state governments because of elections, as if the needs of the people for roads, healthcare, drugs, education and security has stopped.

“She has insisted that inspite of individual appraisals of each bank by their credit committees, all State requests for funding by banks must be approved by her Ministry.

“To the best of my knowledge, she has not granted any of the requests submitted to her for approval in her new coordinating role as the retail banker for the Nigerian economy.

“A recent study that I commissioned just two months ago shows that construction workers are losing their jobs in the thousands across the country.

“Reports from four major construction companies show that a total of 5,170 local workers and 450 expatriate workers have been laid off between December 2014 and February 2015 and there will be more to follow, from only four companies.

“Your guess is then as good as mine about what is happening in several other hundreds of middle and small construction companies.

Missing N30trillion: I won’t Answer Soludo Again, Says Okonjo-Iweala

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Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on Tuesday said she would no longer reply the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Prof. Charles Soludo, over claims that that N30 trillion was stolen under her watch.

Okonjo-Iweala said this while responding to questions on a radio programme on Raypower. She, however, advised Nigerians not to be deceived by the misinformation by some politicians in the country.

When asked to comment on the alleged missing N30 trillion, the finance minister said: “This is part of the packaged lies that Nigerians must avoid. I don’t want to enter into that debate, we have answered him (Soludo) and I don’t want to join issues with him because you don’t join issues when things don’t make any sense.”

Read More: dailypost.ng

Nigeria Needs $5bn to Sustain Economic Stability, says Okonjo-Iweala

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Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said Monday, that for Nigeria to sustain the stability of its economy, it has to raise its excess crude account to $5 billion. The excess crude account which currently stands at $4.1 billion.

Speaking in Abuja, Dr. OKonjo-Iweala, appering before the Senate committees on Finance and National Planning, during consideration of the 2015-2017 Medium Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF, as a working document for the 2015 Budget, also dismissed claims that the country was financially bankrupt in spite of some cash fluctuations it was experiencing.

She said, “Nigeria as a country has quite enough assets and I think anybody will agree to that. That is why when people say the country is broke, I say ‘absolutely not’ because if we wanted to mobilise any of our assets to cover, we could do that. Of course it could take a little bit of time. However, that does not mean that we cannot have some cash flow fluctuations, we just have to manage it because we have an economy that is reasonably self sufficient. We are able to manage ourselves well while everybody is willing to do a few things and we should be able to get there.”

She added that ,“My belief is, no matter what is settled on at this point in time, what is pleasing and that brings us all together is the realization that what we were trying to say a few years ago has happened and it is happening in front of us and all of us need to come together to find a solution.”

This she said when the committee asked whether the 2015 budget was workable.