This is Nigeria! Anything is possible. The more dubious, the more likely it has been done or it is in queue waiting to be done.
Conspiracy theorists are flooding social media with information that alludes to the fact that the Federal Government may have paid $1 billion for the release of the mother of the Finance Minister.
Here’s how they say it happened using the timeline of events in the five day kidnap saga:
Day 1: Finance Minister’s mother, Princess Okonjo Kidnapped
Day 2: Crdible reports say kidnappers demand $1 billion
Day 3: President Jonathan Requests N161 billion ($1 billion) from National Assembly
Day 4: National Assembly grants request after late night meeting with the President
Day 5: Finance Minister’s mother is released.
This could be purely coincidental. The Herald is just reporting a side of the story that the mainstream media has overlooked.
Besides the most hated individual in the cabinet by the political elite is Okonjo Iweala. In this past year alone, she has been hounded by the National Assembly, and other ministers including the Petroleum Minister.
Her enemies also include the fuel marketers (and their political class benefactors) who stand to benefit from the largesse Jonathan just obtained from the National Assembly.