An anti-corruption coalition, the Civil Society Network Against Corruption (CSNAC) has urged the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Bureau to prosecute the immediate past Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for having participated in the illegal disbursement of funds recovered from late Sanni Abacha.
In a petition to the Bureau, signed by its chairman, Olanrewaju Suraju, the CSNAC claimed the former minister misled Nigerians with false information on the utilization of the funds which were diverted to the account of former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki.
Suraju said “In the past weeks, Nigerians have been inundated with revelations of how the former National Security Adviser Sambo Dasuki misappropriated the sum of $300million and £5.5 million which was meant for the purchase of arms and ammunition to enable the military combat the insurgency orchestrated by Boko Haram.
“Further revelation and reports have also shown that the said funds from the recovered Abacha fund was illegally transferred to the Office of the National Security Adviser by the immediate past Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
“In a letter dated the 20th of January, 2015, which was addressed to former president Goodluck Jonathan, the former finance Minister had sought his approval for the funds to be disbursed to the ONSA for procurement of arms to fight the Boko Haram insurgency.
“However, as the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, it behoves her to ensure that transfer of the said funds was carried out according to established laws and to also ensure that they were properly utilized. She therefore abdicated her responsibility to Dr. Jonathan to demand accounts of the funds from Mr. Dasuki,
“Furthermore at several fora, Dr. Iweala had misled Nigerians with false information on the utilization of proceeds of the recovered Abacha funds by the previous administration.
“She had on several occasions stated that the funds had been spent on road constructions, power generation, schools and other developmental projects across the country.”
The Coalition described her action as abuse of power and violation of constitutional provisions.
“By transferring funds in clear violation of constitutional provisions, Dr. Iweala has clearly done an act contrary to government policy, thereby breaching the provisions of the Code of Conduct for public officers.
“If she had followed due process in the transfer of the funds by seeking the approval of the National Assembly, the country would have been saved from this huge mess. Thousands of Nigerians have and are still losing their lives and have become displaced in their own country due to the terrorist activities.
“Our gallant soldiers have been made to fight the war without adequate equipments and have been court martial for daring to complain. Yet, all of these happened due to the activities of unpatriotic and corrupt officials who were encouraged by the laxity and abuse of office on the part of the former finance minister.
“CSNAC is therefore by this petition demanding the prosecution of Dr. Okonjo-Iweala for abusing her office as finance minister by illegally transferring the said funds to the Office of the National Security Adviser.
“You will agree with us that public officers need to be made to realize that the powers conferred on them by their offices are not arbitrary and are subject to scrutiny and control at all times. The prosecution of Dr. Iweala will contribute immensely in conveying that message to all public officers,” they added.