BLAME OBASANJO
Femi Sobowale
7/25/2007
Having read the report on the court order directing the duo of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Ambassador Olufemi Adeniji to refund a total sum of #205m to the coffers of the Federal Government of Nigeria, I feel sorry for the former ministers. The money, according to the court’s ruling constitutes the equivalent of salaries in dollars which the ex-ministers collected while in office. This is in violation of the Certain Political, Public and Judicial Office Holders (Salaries and Allowances) Act No. 6 of 2002, which forbids payment of salaries in any foreign currency other than Nigerian naira to Ministers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The Act was made on December 13, 2002, but effective from May 29, 1999, the inception of President Olusegun Obasanjo’s first term. Specifically, the Court of Appeal in Abuja ordered Okonjo-Iweala to refund #140m, while Adeniji is expected to refund #64m to the government’s purse.
For all intent and purposes, the transaction could not have gone through various stages in the government’s bureaucracy without the approval of the then President Olusegun Obasanjo. Obasanjo reportedly used the foreign currency-based salaries to lure the ministers into his cabinet in his quest for the best hands on the job.
I’m not apportioning blame on the ministers here, but I think it is a grave mistake on their part to have taken such a risk, especially when the existing law is very clear on the issue. And until the law of the land is amended on this particular subject, the status quo remains. It is a matter of time before something like this would happen, and the full strength of the law would be applied appropriately.
The ministers could go to the Supreme Court to get a reprieve, especially since according to the Okonjo-Iweala’s side; the payment was made to the ministers from the ‘Diaspora Fund’ which is under the management of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). But they still have to contend with the problem of negative image which the present case potentially places on their persons. As it is, few Nigerians know about the details of the matter, and they may be forced to reach conclusions as they deem fit.
I think it is a lesson for everyone going into government that a public office should be treated as such, and the law should be respected at all times, irrespective of your position in government.
For Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, he should take the blame for this mess, because as the leader, he should not have allowed the deal in the first place. He was said to have bent to the wishes of the ministers to have their salaries paid in dollars. However, it is ironic that the ministers, who left their plum jobs to serve Nigeria, should find themselves in this situation. Both of them performed very well in their ministries while their tenured lasted. Parting with such a huge amount of money as a salary refund is not a joke.
