Missing N30 Trillion: Okonjo-Iweala Takes Legal Action Against SERAP

The court concurred with the contention of
Olukayode Majekodunmi, SERAP's Deputy
Director, that the former minister should
have provided the information requested by
SERAP or issue a denial of the allegation
within seven days of the receipt of the
request from SERAP.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, former Minister of
Finance and Coordinating Minister of the
Economy, has denied being served with
any court processes relating to the court judgment
ordering her to supply information on the spending
of an allegedly missing N30 trillion representing
part of the accruable income to the Federal
Government in the last four years of the
administration of former President Goodluck
Jonathan.

She has also announced that she has taken legal
action against the Socio-Economic Rights &
Accountability Project (SERAP), the organization
that filed the suit against her.

Former Minister of Finance Ngozi Okonjo-
Iweala
The denial was contained in a statement signed by
Paul Nwabiukwu, her spokesperson.

According to the statement, the former minister is
yet to read the judgment and would therefore defer
any comments on the matter.

The judgment was delivered last week by Justice
Ibrahim Buba in a Freedom of Information suit filed
before a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos by
SERAP.

"However, from the media reports, the case was
instituted in February 2015, but was not served
until July 2015 after Dr. Okonjo-Iweala had already
ceased to be the Minister of Finance.

"By the date the said papers were purportedly
served, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala was no longer a public
officer and could therefore not be the subject of a
request for production of any documents or
information under the Freedom of information Act,"
said Mr. Nwabiukwu.

He maintained that the court processes must have
been served on other people, claiming that the
former minister's attention was never drawn to the
matter in which she was sued personally, the
reason for which she did not have a lawyer to
defend her in the matter.

Mr. Nwabiukwu said SERAP's suit was based on
unsubstantiated allegations made by Professor
Charles Soludo, a former governor of the Central
Bank of Nigeria (CBN). He said the missing sum
on which the suit was based was about seven
times the total annual budget during the Jonathan
administration. This, he alleged, confirms SERAP’s
position as a tool in the hands of politically-
motivated actors.

"It is curious that the first time Dr. Okonjo-Iweala is
being made aware of a matter filed against her in
court is in news reports reporting the delivery of
judgment. She has instructed her lawyers to take
steps to set aside the judgment as it affects her."
In the judgment given last week, Justice Buba had
said:

“Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala and the Federal Government
have no legally justifiable reason for refusing to
provide SERAP with the information requested for.
The court has gone through the application and
agrees that SERAP’s application has merits, and
the argument is not opposed. SERAP’s application
is granted as prayed."

The court concurred with the contention of
Olukayode Majekodunmi, SERAP's Deputy Director,
that the former minister should have provided the
information requested by SERAP or issue a denial
of the allegation within seven days of the receipt of
the request from SERAP.

In February last year, SERAP filed a suit against
Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala for her failure to provide
information on how the allegedly missing N30
trillion was spent. The matter appeared to have
been triggered by Mr. Soludo, who asked, “How
many trillions of naira were paid for oil subsidy
(unappropriated?) How many trillions (in actual
fact) have been 'lost' through Customs duty waivers
over the last four years? Can you tell Nigerians why
the price of diesel has still not come down despite
the crash in global crude oil prices, and how much
is being appropriated by friends in the process?”

.