$11bn Fuel Subsidy Scam: I almost Died Says Okonjo-Iweala

By James Orji

Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Director General of the World Trade Organisation, WTO said she did not regret serving Nigeria despite the fact that her life and that of her family members were threatened while she served twice as a minister in previous administrations.

The WTO boss was a one-time Minister of Finance and Foreign Affairs during the administrations of former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan.

At a point during the Jonathan government, her mother was kidnapped by persons suspected to be working for oil marketers who were not happy with her management of the oil subsidy funds.

Her non-compromising stand was also believed to have attracted her to attacks from some business men who thought she was trying to deny them from getting their oil subsidy claim, which at a point during the Jonathan government peaked over $11 billion.

She was also targeted by sponsors of ghost workers in the payroll of the federal government, she said.

According to her, all her efforts were directed at cleaning up the government book and ensure accountability while in office, but this, obviously did not go down well with some individuals, she stated.

In spite of this, the no-nonsense administrator said she had no regret whatsoever, adding that she did the right thing for her country.

Narrating her experience Dr Okonjo-Iweala said “And just by having an integrated financial management system, we were able to cut down on the phenomenon of ghost workers, you know where people used to put additional people on the payroll in the ministries, ghost pensioners, because ghost workers will graduate to ghost pensioners, and so we got rid of that and saved $1.1 billion for the government

“So that is, we were fighting other types of corruption. We had an oil subsidy system in which we used to pay marketers.

“Oil marketers who brought in refined oil, you now, we paid them the difference between the market price, and the subsidised price that the government was mandated for selling oil to people.

“And so, that was when I came the second time. This was a big problem. When I left government the first time in 2006, these subsidies were about $2 billion, when I came back, the first thing we noticed was that it had grown to $11 billion.

“So, I asked President Jonathan that we could audit the oil accounts which he fully supported. When we audited, $8.5 billion of the accounts, we found $2.5 billion of fraudulent claims and with his backing, we refused to pay that to the marketers and that led to a series of problems, which I won’t bore you with, including threats to my life.

“My mother being kidnapped for five days was one of the worst periods of my life and it was a very tough period.”

In the midst of her travails at the time, the former minister said “I think the privilege of serving my country as finance minister for several years, to being able to work on some reforms is one of the best things I’ve ever done.”