Politics Okonjo Iweala Blames GEJ's Govt for Nigeria's Current Hardship

[LequteMan]

Nigeria's ex Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has stated that the lack of political will to save oil revenue under former President Goodluck Jonathan was responsible for the challenges facing the country presently.

According to the two-time minister, Nigeria was able to save $22bn under former President Olusegun Obasanjo, which she noted saved the country in 2008 during the global economic meltdown.

Citing the Chilean example, she said, “We tried it in Nigeria, we put in an oil price-based fiscal rule in 2004 and it worked very well.

“We saved $22bn because the political will to do it was there. And when the 2008/2009 crisis came, we were able to draw on those savings precisely to issue about five per cent of the Gross Domestic Product as fiscal stimulus to the economy, and we never had to come to the bank or the fund.”

She added, “This time round, and this is the key now, you need not only to have the instrument but you also need the political will. In my second time as a finance minister, from 2011 to 2015, we had the instrument, we had the means, we had done it before, but zero political will.

“So, we were not able to save when we should have. That is why you find that Nigeria is now in the situation it is in, along with so many other countries.”

On solving the problem of political will and manipulations, she said, “That is the question that I ask; what do we need to do to these countries to save over a period of long accelerated growth?

“We need to devise mechanisms not just that are good technically, but find a way to either embed them in the constitution or find a way to separate them from the political manipulation so that these countries can survive over time.

“To build resilience, African countries need tools and mechanisms, and it is doable and we need to interrogate ourselves why we have not done it.”

She spoke on the topic: ‘Inequality, growth and resilience’ recently at George Washington University, United States of America.


TheCable

 

[Alabi]

To o, ma dala!

 

[wazobiaplus]

The teflon minister. So why did you not resign

 

[buchi]

Nigeria's ex Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has stated the lack of political will to save oil revenue under former President Goodluck Jonathan was responsible for the challenges facing the country presently.

According to the two-time minister, Nigeria was able to save $22bn under former President Olusegun Obasanjo, which she noted saved the country in 2008 during the global economic meltdown.

Citing the Chilean example, she said, “We tried it in Nigeria, we put in an oil price-based fiscal rule in 2004 and it worked very well.

“We saved $22bn because the political will to do it was there. And when the 2008/2009 crisis came, we were able to draw on those savings precisely to issue about five per cent of the Gross Domestic Product as fiscal stimulus to the economy, and we never had to come to the bank or the fund.”

She added, “This time round, and this is the key now, you need not only to have the instrument but you also need the political will. In my second time as a finance minister, from 2011 to 2015, we had the instrument, we had the means, we had done it before, but zero political will.

“So, we were not able to save when we should have. That is why you find that Nigeria is now in the situation it is in, along with so many other countries.”

On solving the problem of political will and manipulations, she said, “That is the question that I ask; what do we need to do to these countries to save over a period of long accelerated growth?

“We need to devise mechanisms not just that are good technically, but find a way to either embed them in the constitution or find a way to separate them from the political manipulation so that these countries can survive over time.

“To build resilience, African countries need tools and mechanisms, and it is doable and we need to interrogate ourselves why we have not done it.”

She spoke on the topic: ‘Inequality, growth and resilience’ recently at George Washington University, United States of America.


TheCable

This news is maliciously cooked to tarnish this woman's image, she is been misquoted in many areas just to quote some people right, okonjo iweala never blamed Jonathan rather she blames the governors under Jonathan who we all new where hell bent on destroying his government. The APC governors to be specific the likes of Amechi, fashola, Rochas and their teams.

 

[stato]

@buchi [USERGROUP=15]@News Hub Team[/USERGROUP]

If she could not get the policies she wanted through because of the governors and the president was not able to do anything about it, why did they not resign on principle? She mentioned that the other government had the WILL to do this, referring to Obasanjo, who was she referring to that lacked the political will?

 

[buchi]

@buchi [USERGROUP=15]@News Hub Team[/USERGROUP]

If she could not get the policies she wanted through because of the governors and the president was not able to do anything about it, why did they not resign on principle? She mentioned that the other government had the WILL to do this, referring to Obasanjo, who was she referring to that lacked the political will?

@stato are you suggesting she and the president resign because they got opposition from the governors? That's cowardly act, okay today Buhari is having a great opposition from both the upper and lower chambers, which are bent on destroying his government plans they've succeeded in messing up his budget in two different occasions will you suggest Buhari also resign. Opposition is part of democracy and the president has no such right to force anything on any state governor, remember this same governors dragged the Jonathan govt. To court that he shouldn't force them to safe. Else if your government is anti democracy that's only when you decline the people's right of choice. So you don't ask Okonjo and Jonathan to resign for the opposition.

 

[stato]

@stato are you suggesting she and the president resign because they got opposition from the governors? That's cowardly act, okay today Buhari is having a great opposition from both the upper and lower chambers, which are bent on destroying his government plans they've succeeded in messing up his budget in two different occasions will you suggest Buhari also resign. Opposition is part of democracy and the president has no such right to force anything on any state governor, remember this same governors dragged the Jonathan govt. To court that he shouldn't force them to safe. Else if your government is anti democracy that's only when you decline the people's right of choice. So you don't ask Okonjo and Jonathan to resign for the opposition.

I was not talking about the president. She was brought in to do a job, there was political will to get the job done, as she put it, she stayed in the job. Incidentally, I have not heard her defend her former boss in any sitting before the elections, during the elections or after the elections. The fact remains, the economy failed under her watch and it does not matter how we chose to spin it. She had an oversight responsibility which even during senate questioning she claims she did not know what was going on re: the JP Morgan account. Allegedly during this time, there was widespread corruptions with billions missing. What was her job again? What was her responsibility? It obviously was not the economy!

 

[buchi]

Nigeria's ex Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has stated the lack of political will to save oil revenue under former President Goodluck Jonathan was responsible for the challenges facing the country presently.

According to the two-time minister, Nigeria was able to save $22bn under former President Olusegun Obasanjo, which she noted saved the country in 2008 during the global economic meltdown.

Citing the Chilean example, she said, “We tried it in Nigeria, we put in an oil price-based fiscal rule in 2004 and it worked very well.

“We saved $22bn because the political will to do it was there. And when the 2008/2009 crisis came, we were able to draw on those savings precisely to issue about five per cent of the Gross Domestic Product as fiscal stimulus to the economy, and we never had to come to the bank or the fund.”

She added, “This time round, and this is the key now, you need not only to have the instrument but you also need the political will. In my second time as a finance minister, from 2011 to 2015, we had the instrument, we had the means, we had done it before, but zero political will.

“So, we were not able to save when we should have. That is why you find that Nigeria is now in the situation it is in, along with so many other countries.”

On solving the problem of political will and manipulations, she said, “That is the question that I ask; what do we need to do to these countries to save over a period of long accelerated growth?

“We need to devise mechanisms not just that are good technically, but find a way to either embed them in the constitution or find a way to separate them from the political manipulation so that these countries can survive over time.

“To build resilience, African countries need tools and mechanisms, and it is doable and we need to interrogate ourselves why we have not done it.”

She spoke on the topic: ‘Inequality, growth and resilience’ recently at George Washington University, United States of America.


TheCable