Inside the ministry of OKONJO - WAHALA

She has been described as a globally renowned Nigerian Economist and two-times Minister of Finance of Nigeria, her current term having begun in 2011. As a matter of fact, this second time, she returned with an additional portfolio of Coordinating Minister of the Economy.

As far back as 2007, she had been considered as a possible replacement for Paul Wolfowitz, the disgraced former World Bank President. Robert Zoellick, the man who succeeded him appointed her a Managing Director of the Bank on 4th October of that year.  At home and abroad, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has scored some firsts: she was the first candidate to force an election to the office of the President of the World Bank, even though on 16th April, 2012 it was officially disclosed that she had lost the position to the American nominee, Jim Yong Kim. She is also the first Nigerian Minister of Finance to introduce the publication in the media of monthly financial allocation to States and Local Governments in the firm belief that this could enhance transparency. It is also to Dr Okonjo-Iweala’s credit that Nigeria’s first ever sovereign credit rating of BB Minus by Fitch and Standard and Poor’s was achieved. She has consistently advocated the significant reduction of Nigeria’s recurrent expen-diture so as to free funds for meaningful development.
However, despite all of these sound records, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is dogged by needless controversies. For example, during her first tenure as Minister of Finance, it was established that she and her then colleague in the Foreign Affairs, Dr Olu Adeniji, were being paid salaries and allowances to the tune of US$240,000. On Friday, 20th July, 2007 the Nigerian Court of Appeal ruled the payment illegal and ordered the two to refund the money, though the judgement has been appealed at the Supreme Court.
Before then, however, in 2005, Dr Okonjo-Iweala had led the federal government’s delegation to negotiations with the so called Paris Club where Nigeria paid a whopping sum of US$12 billion in return for a US$18 billion debt write off. The advertised gains of this financial hara-kiri in form of  fresh new start for the Nigerian economy, are yet to be felt by Nigerians and under her very nose, Nigeria is slowly crawling back into another debt trap.
At the beginning of January 2012, she was finge-red as the brain behind the abrupt increase in the pump price of petroleum products aimed at removing a much ballyhooed subsidy. A bitter workers strike and civil protest christened Occupy Nigeria forced the hand of the frightened government to bring the price down to N97 per litre. Meanwhile, much to the chagrin of Dr Okonjo-Iweala, the government has been unable to show results in terms of punishing those inside and outside government who criminally stole billions of Naira under the guise of payment for fuel subsidy. Equally, in spite of her best intentions and the coordination of the Nigerian economy, unemployment rate in the country is at its highest ever, with 40 million jobless and over 70% of the populace living under one dollar!
Nor is it tidy or respectable the way and manner national institutions under the supervision of Mrs Okonjo-Iweala are managed. At a hearing on the regulatory scorecard of the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Director General Arunma Oteh was accused of fraud and incompetence.  She was alleged to have irregularly employed some staff of Access Bank, collusion with some of the big organisations and placed investors at risk. The members of the House of Representatives who conducted the hearing discovered that she had chalked up a hefty amount of N30 million on hotel accommodations, and in one day alone spent N850, 000 on food. On 11th October, 2012, the Nigerian Senate concurred with a resolution earlier passed by the House of Representatives asking the President to sack Arunma Oteh. Initially, Okonjo-Iweala made some half-hearted attempts to facilitate Oteh’s departure from SEC but then did nothing afterwards.
“Specifically, the members of staff have again accused her of high-handedness, sole administratorship, intimi-dation, insensitivity, malice and a headlong drive for vengeance”, added a statement on Oteh from the Nigerian Senate. Matters came to a head when the National Assembly awarded SEC zero allocation in the 2013 budget.
At the Nigerian Pension Commission (PenCom), it was even more scandalous. Under the law establishing the PenCom, its Director General must have 20 years cognate experience in matters relating to pension management. But in breach of this law, the government, under the watch of Dr Okonjo-Iweala, appointed one Mrs Chinelo Ahonu-Amazu who has no such experience as DG of PenCom; and in a move that smacks of desperation to keep Ahonu-Amazu in the position so as to achieve only God knows what, the government submitted an amendment proposal aimed at lowering the qualifications bar from 20 down to 15 years to suit the woman.
At the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), another national institution overseen by Dr Okonjo-Iweala, the succession story took another messy twist this August. The outgoing Comptroller General, Abdullahi Dikko Inde, rather than retiring normally having completed four-year tenure, reportedly received fresh two-year extension of service from the government. Dikko Inde has been scheming to edge out some contenders for the Customs top job and appoint his own successors. Though there had been no official confirmation of the extension, he and those that did it let it be known surreptitiously via a 14th August, 2013 newspaper advertisement published by three “friends” of Dikko Inde, two of them with unusual names, namely, Dr Randy Brown, Arc Green Markson and  Alhaji Usman Bawa.
At the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), the succession plan is in a cul-de-sac. About two years since Ifueko Omoigui-Okauru completed an 8 year tenure as the Executive Chairman of FIRS, there has been a paralysed process to appoint her successor.
At first the autho-rities put up a brave face by pretending to do the right thing; they advertised the post, they even shortlisted six persons and set up a panel to interview them. Having been found out that Okonjo-Iweala is allegedly trying to manoeuvre her way to appoint some pre-determined person, some stakeholders decided to pull out of the entire process. Stalemate!
Despite her exposure to global best practices and the fact that she herself had had a fair shot at the World Bank’s top job, Okonjo-Iweala has failed to rise above the questionable Nigerian way of filling vacancies. The selection process of the leadership of these national institutions is stalled and enmeshed in mistrust and an inexplicable disinterest in doing what is right. Is this the best possible deal the minister can give Nigerians in terms of appointing substantive leadership for FIRS, Nigerian Customs Service, SEC and PENCOM