The Chairman of President Muhammadu Buhari’s Transition Committee, which interfaced with former President Goodluck Jonathan’s team, Ahmed Joda has disclosed that his panel did not find anything to believe that the immediate past Finance minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, was guilty of corruption, stressing that the ex-coordinating minister for the economy shielded herself.
Joda, who spoke with select journalists in Yola, Adamawa State, said the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, which had beamed its searchlight on the Jonathan administration under which Okonjo-Iweala served, might never find her guilty of any wrongdoing, despite the various financial malfeasances that had been traced to that administration.
He however expressed surprise at Okonjo-Iweala’s action of not resigning her position even when it became obvious that many people in the administration were not acting in good conscience.
The retired permanent secretary stated this while responding to a suggestion on whether or not Buhari could bring back the likes of the former Finance Minister to help the administration fix the economy.
He stated that despite the perfidy committed by some persons during the administration, Okonjo-Iweala always sought presidential approval, pointing out that such tactfulness from her made it difficult for anyone, including the EFCC, to be able to link her with fraud.
According to Joda, “Okonjo-Iweala is a professional and she guarded herself, if you look at what she did. Whenever, they said this happened she was able to produce papers to say, ‘look oh!’ We had a meeting, presided over by the President and attended by the National Security Adviser and others. And we agreed.
“And she would go back and write the President and say, ‘I have received a request to release so many billions in accordance with our minutes. Your Excellency, if you will approve.’ And His Excellency would approve it. So, she covered herself, thus you can’t pin anything on her.”
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