Former minister of finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has responded to media reports which said on Monday that she was being probed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) alongside some other former ministers in the last federal cabinet over alleged corruption. ”The reports are misleading and untrue,” said Okonjo-Iweala in a statement signed by her spokesman, Paul Nwabuikwu.
Some newspaper headlines had alleged that during his Budget 2016 defence at the House of Representatives, the EFCC chairman, Ibrahim Magu had named Okonjo-Iweala as one of those being investigated by the commission. The former coordinating minister of the economy however said eye witness accounts of the presentation by the EFCC boss reveal that the claims by the newspapers are incorrect.
”The headlines are a misrepresentation of what the EFCC Chairman actually said during the event. While the headlines claimed that the EFCC Chairman, in response to a question by an APC member Hon Razak Atunwa, stated that Dr Okonjo-Iweala is under investigation, the actual words quoted in the same reports told a very different story,” the statement said.
Magu’s words, according to the statement by the former minister, was that, “Very soon we will go into the petroleum industry. Such investigation requires that we have to build capacity, we have to bring in experts to enable us tackle what we are doing properly and the investigation must be conducted properly. We have internal lawyers and external lawyers. We have to pay insurance…”
He said ”the words said to have been spoken by the EFCC Chairman cannot support the lurid headlines that Dr Okonjo-Iweala is under investigation by the EFCC.”
The statement then called on the Nigerian media to be fair, balanced and factual in its reporting as it plays an important role in our democracy.
Okonjo-Iweala is known for her strong push backs against any report or statement alleging that she somehow played a role in any mismanagement or corruption which took place in the economy during the period she served as minister.
