A former Minister of Petroleum, Prof. Tam David-West, has replied the
Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr Ngozi
Okonjo-Iweala, over her advice on how the incoming administration of
Gen. Muhammadu Buhari can increase revenue, saying the incoming
president does not need her expertise.
David-West, who spoke to The Niation reporter in Ibadan, Oyo State capital,
yesterday, said Buhari is highly experienced in the art of governance,
stressing that he knows what to do to manage the economy well.
He said that while Okonjo-Iweala supervises a Nigerian economy in
which a United States (US) dollar exchanges for N190, Buhari, during his
days as the Head of State, supervised an economy where N1 exchanged for
US$1.5.
His words: “I read Okonjo-Iweala’s advice to Gen. Buhari on how to
raise revenue with interest and amusement. I don’t think that Buhari
needs any advice from her on the subject. He is not new on the terrain.
He is a very knowledgeable person on how to move the economy forward. I
don’t believe he needs advice from Okonjo-Iweala.
“When Buhari was in charge, oil was $30 per barrel. It even went down
to $15 per barrel. Yet, he managed the economy very well. Oil price is
now double that price and they are complaining that oil price has
fallen.
“Buhari can manage the economy better than Okonjo-Iweala. He never
took International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan. Neither did he flirt with
IMF. He refused to devalue the naira in spite of the problem the country
was facing from different areas. $1.5 exchanged for N1. But during
Okonjo-Iweala’s time, it is N190 to $1.
“Finally, it was N2 to £1. During Okonjo-Iweala’s time, it is N240 to
£1. Buhari did not import fuel; he was exporting whereas Okonjo-Iweala
imports fuel with bogus subsidy running to trillions of naira. And she
has not been able to arrest anyone involved in subsidy scam let alone
get a refund from any of them.
“Nigeria is the only country in the world where Okonjo-Iweala is the
Finance Minister and coordinating the economy where provision is made
for fraud in the annual budget by way of subsidy. So, Buhari does not
need her advice.”
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