I didn’t threaten to resign –Okonjo-Iweala

Posted by admin Latest Politics, Women Politics Friday, January 6th, 2012

Friday January 06, 2012

• Iweala
Photo: Sun News Publishing

More Stories on This Section

The Minister for Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has debunked online reports of threatening to resign her appointment if the Jonathan-led administration bows to public pressure and rescinds its decision on removal of fuel subsidy.

She said the reports, which tried to portray her as the sole proponent of the removal of subsidy, were founded on lies and circulated by faceless campaigners to inspire public hatred and odium against her personality.
In a statement, signed by her Senior Special Assistant, Paul Nwabuike, the minister urged the public to ignore such reports, which she described as ‘the antics of people who believe that Nigerians are fools’.

The minister said she did not attend the emergency Federal Executive Council meeting held on Wednesday, where the faceless reporters said she issued the threat. According to her, she was out of the country at the time of the emergency meeting and couldn’t have made such statement.
Okonjo-Iweala, who is also the Coordinating Minister for the Economy, described the report as a well-coordinated calumny and despicable distortions of reality by cowardly persons, saying, “it is not only naive but also highly disrespectful to the president and the government as a whole to suggest that the entire decision making machinery of government is the sole preserve of any official.

“Their calculation is that Nigerians are so angry and so gullible that they will believe anything if the lies are supported with manufactured ‘facts’. But we believe that fair-minded Nigerians are not fools,” she said.
While expressing her unflinching support for the deregulation, the minister said it would drastically reduce corruption and also terminate the tenure of powerful cabal, who had continued to enjoy waivers at the expense of Nigerian people.

“In addition, the vast majority of Nigerians will also gain as the proceeds will be redirected into safety nets, other identified social interventions as well as provision of sorely needed infrastructure projects nationwide,” she said.

-Sunwp_posts