Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, yesterday came for the Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, requesting her to account for an estimated $30 billion which should have accrued to the government based on the official oil exports of 2.3 million barrels per day.

Wondering why the management of public finance was shrouded in secrecy under her tenure, Oshiomhole called on the Finance Minister to tell Nigerians before leaving office how the economy was managed since her coming on board in 2011.

In an article titled “Economy: Okonjo-Iweala’s hidden figures,” and published by him, Oshiomhole alleged that the minister mismanaged the economy and abused financial regulations. He insisted that Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala’s tenure as Finance Minister remained “a bile in the dish until she clarifies her role in the management of resources”.

He stressed that the minister has not explained how a $10 billion balance in the Excess Crude Account (ECA) was drawn down to $2.O7 billion between December 2012 and now, when only $4 billion was shared from the account.

According to him, “Indeed, the last time any money was shared from the ECA was in May 2013. For six clear months in 2013, the National Economic Council (NEC) did not meet, an act many believed was contrived to conceal information on the operations of the ECA. When eventually the NEC met after those six months, the minister reported that the ECA had dropped to $4 billion.

“For the sake of transparency and accountability, Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala has a duty to herself, to the nation and the international community to account for what transpired in the ECA by giving full disclosure of how much accrued to ECA on a month-by-month basis and the subsequent outflows.”

Oshiomhole alleged that the minister encouraged financial impunity by unilaterally taking money from the ECA to fund the Subsidy Reinvestment Programme (SURE-P) and the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) for consultancy services on the Second Niger Bridge.

He held that it is explicable for the minister to fund SURE-P from the ECA because it is a complete violation of the law and due process, arguing that it is important for her to avail the nation SURE-P’s financial statements, indicating clearly the sources and uses of funds.

His words, “It is also a fact known to all that under the 1999 Constitution (as amended), only the National Assembly (NASS) has the power to appropriate monies for subsidy. Similarly, nobody spends money that is not appropriated or in excess of what was appropriated without recourse to the NASS.

“In the first place, ECA is not an exclusive preserve of the Federal Government. It belongs to all the tiers of government: federal, state and local governments. Moreover, the minister has no power whatsoever to spend monies without the express consent and approval of the state governments.”

Speaking about the Sovereign Wealth Fund, SWF, the Governor said: “It is understood from the law establishing the SWF that the state governments are part of the decision-making regarding the operations of the Fund.

“However, till date, no state government has any idea about how the Fund operates or how it is managed. Like the ECA, its management is opaque.

“The only information we stumbled upon as state governments is that the minister of finance had unilaterally and without recourse to NEC and the state governments, withdrawn money from the SWF to fund consultancy services in the name of the Second Niger Bridge.”

Oshiomhole, while faulting the minister’s allegation that state governments have been finding it difficult to pay salaries, accused her of leaving the log in the eye of the Federal Government to draw attention to the speck in the states.

He further noted that “Dr. Okonjo-Iweala was quick to blame state governments for not paying salaries but the situation with the Federal Government employees is even worse. Things have gone so bad that even salaries of federal employees have to be paid by recourse to irresponsible borrowing from the capital markets.

“Let me state for the record at this juncture that while Dr. Okonjo-Iweala, as Minister of Finance, is borrowing recklessly to pay salaries of federal employees, in Edo State, we are paying salaries as and when due, including teachers employed by local government areas without recourse to borrowing,” he stated.