Press statement from the office of Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. Read below...
Contrary
to reports by Premium Times and some other media, the Coordinating
Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
has not disowned PriceWaterHouse Coopers, the international audit firm
which carried out the recent audit of the alleged unaccounted for $20
billion.
This is because the
forensic audit was actually proposed
by Dr Okonjo-Iweala as the best way
to get to the truth following the disagreement (and widely conflicting
figures) between former CBN Governor (and current Emir of Kano) Malam
Sanusi Lamido Sanusi and the NNPC over Sanusi’s allegation of
unaccounted for funds.
Her
proposal was accepted by President Goodluck Jonathan as well as the
Senate, and the President subsequently directed the Auditor General of
the Federation to lead the work. The Auditor-General later appointed PwC
to carry out the audit. Dr Okonjo-Iweala therefore respects the process
which produced the audit. But requesting the audit is of course not the
same thing as hiring the auditor.
This
was why we made it clear in our last press release that the suit filed
against Dr Okonjo-Iweala before a Lagos High Court by SIAO Partners
alleging that she appointed PwC to carry out the audit is frivolous and
uninformed. We urge the relevant media to update their information based
on this clarification. Many thanks. Paul C Nwabuikwu Special Adviser to
the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance
