The House Committee of Finance has issued a reply to the Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo Iweala. Mrs. Iweala had told newsmen on Friday that the 50 questions given her by the Committee were like an examination.
“They have given me exams and I am sitting it and at some point, we have to come out of the exams room. Some of the questions are very weighty and you know some of us will need a bit of time to be able to tackle them,” the minister had said.
In response, the House Finance committee issued a statement signed by the clerk of the committee, Farouk Mustapha warning the minister of the consequences of failure of the exams.
The statement reads, “The attention of the House Committee on Finance has been drawn to a comment in response to reporters’ questions credited to the Honourable Minister of Finance and Co-ordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, in which she likened the 50 questions on the state of the economy posed to her by the Committee to an examination.
“The Minister appears to be taking the memories of Nigerians for granted. This was the Minister who walked into the meeting with the Committee and drew everyone’s sympathy the moment she feebly announced that she was not feeling well.
“Isn’t it curious then that when she was not feeling well the Minister was prepared to address 50 questions in a session that was to last just about two hours, and now that she is fully fit, hale and hearty,` she is saying she would need more time? Nigerians would have expected her, in her present re-invigorated state of health, to tell them she would tackle the questions in 30 minutes!
“It is a good thing that Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala sees the task before her as an examination. The Minister is nonetheless reminded that exams have duration, and they are meant to be passed or flunked. However, we would not neglect to also remind her that there are consequences either way. There is reward for passing and reward for failure. One way or the other, we would decide how she performs.”
The committee faulted the minister for not presenting an exit plan for domestic borrowing 3 years after it requested the information from her.
“Additionally, rather than all the speeches, why has the Minister failed to heed our call for her to present an exit plan (timetable) for domestic borrowing three years after taking over as Minister of Finance?
“It is high time the Minister realised that we do not need any other country to tell us that our economy is doing well, the least of which is Great Britain with its deep economic problems and huge domestic debt profile. Nigerians will positively feel the impact if their economy is really doing well as the Minister claims.
“Nigerians need to be vigilant of an attempt to divert attention from the state of the economy presentation and 50 questions we demanded from the Honourable Minister.
“We call on well-meaning Nigerians to support this effort by the Committee on Finance so that we can know the true state of our economy in order for us not to end up like Greece whose genesis of economic problem was the concealment of the true state of her economy.
“The Committee seizes this opportunity to remind Nigerians that it remains focused and committed to its legislative responsibilities as it awaits the response of the Minister to the 50 questions.”