The immediate past Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has revealed that lack of political will to save oil revenue under Goodluck Jonathan is responsible for the challenges facing Nigeria today.
She said as a result, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund must seek means to embed savings in national constitutions devoid of political manipulations.
She said we did well in saving under Olusegun Obasanjo but when it got to Jonathan it was different.
According to The Cable, Okonjo-Iweala spoke on the topic: ‘Inequality, growth and resilience’ at the George Washington University, United States of America.
The two-time minister recalled that 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 percent 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.”
But don’t be surprised if some PDP people come out tomorrow and say she has been bribed by APC or that she doesn’t know what she’s saying, forgetting she was Jonathan’s coordinating minister.
