The coordinating minister for the
economy and Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on Wednesday dismissed
calls for her resignation by members of the Rivers State Governor Rotimi
Amaechi-led Nigeria Governors’ Forum.
The minister said she would not
in any way consider such advice but would rather bother herself with the
economy.
They had said the non-compliance
with the revenue projections of the 2013 Budget was also a direct breach of the
provisions of the Appropriation Act, 2013.
The call for the minister’s
resignation was part of the resolutions of the NGF faction, which met in Abuja.
But Okonjo-Iweala, while
addressing journalists in Abuja on recent developments in the economy, said, as
a minister working under President Goodluck Jonathan, she would prefer to
ensure that the economy was prudently managed rather than discussing political
issues.
At the briefing, the minister was
accompanied by the Director-General, Budget Office of the Federation, Dr.
Bright Okogu; DG, Debt Management Office, Mr. Abraham Nwankwo; and the
Accountant-General of the Federation, Mr. Jonah Otunla.
She said, “I am not here to
address those kinds of issues; you know I am Minister of Finance for the
country. I am working with President Goodluck Jonathan and I will just do my
job.
“This (press briefing) is not to
address any issue, all of you know that from time to time I have this kind of
press conference and I share with you what is happening in the economy and that
is what am doing.
“I am not answering to that (call
for her resignation) and as you see me here, do I look any close to
resignation? I dey kampe. I don’t want to talk about political issues here.”
She said that in spite of the
revenue challenges facing the country, all macro-economic indicators showed
that the economy was performing “reasonably well.”
For instance, Okonjo-Iweala said
in the agricultural sector, a total of 2.5 million seasonal and full time jobs
had been created in nine commodities value chains.
According to her, these are
cassava, sorghum, oil palm, cotton, cocoa, dry season rice, raining season rice
and maize.
She noted that while production
output was increasing, a lot of investments had been made by both local and
foreign investors that would also create more jobs.
She said, “The economy is doing
reasonably well. It’s not perfect but it’s doing reasonably well. I say this
because actual realities on ground are baring this out.
“In agriculture where we are
seeing results, we have seen that 2.5 million seasonal and full time jobs have
been created.
“The economy should be managed
for the good of Nigerians and that’s what we are here. We are not going to get
involved in any political things.
“Let’s face fact of the economy.
I have given you fact about roads, rail construction, jobs created in
agricultural sector, increase in production and what we are doing that you can
go and check for yourselves. So let’s focus on facts.”
When asked about the expectations
for the 2014 budget, the minister said the country would see a “lean budget” as
opposed to the amount contained in the 2013 budget.
Meanwhile, Plateau State Governor
Jonah Jang, who leads the other faction of the NGF, had condemned the call for
the resignation of the minister by the Amaechi-led governors.
In a statement released in Abuja
by the media office of the faction, Jang questioned the competence of the
Amaechi-led NGF to ask Okonjo-Iweala to resign when only 16 governors were
present at a the meeting where the resolution was made.
He said that majority of the
governors were not present at the meeting where the decision was taken.
He wondered whether Amaechi and
those in his group were living in the same country where he said both local and
international experts had all heaped praises on the minister “for the job she
is doing with the ever growing Nigerian economy.”
Similarly, Delta State Governor
Emmanuel Uduaghan on Wednesday faulted the Amaechi’s NGF call for Okonjo-Iweala’s
resignation.
Uduaghan at a press briefing in
Lagos said the governors lacked adequate knowledge about the economy and
revenue generation.
He explained that he had led a
committee with four other governors on revenue generation and allocation, where
he gathered that agencies generating the funds were mainly responsible for the
shortage.
Uduaghan said, “There was call by
some of my colleagues for the resignation of the Minister of Finance which I
don’t think is a way forward and not in order.
“Oil production is at the
quantity we budgeted, so where is the money? But Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation is still telling us that they don’t have enough money.
“So, who is responsible? Let the
NNPC tell Nigerians what is going wrong with the production.”
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