How Jonathan shared part of $1bn oil savings to Amaechi, other governors

– Rotimi Amaechi says that governors demanded the sharing of money from the Excess Crude Account (ECA) under the last federal government because it was not properly managed
– The Transport minister says former president Goodluck Jonathan shared part of the $1billion from oil saving to him and other governors
Rotimi Amaechi, minister of transportation, has responded to claim by Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, former minister of finance, that governors in the last administration lacked the political will to save.
Speaking in an interview on NTA and cited in a report on The Cable, Amaechi said the Okonjo-Iweala’s statement was 30% correct and 70% incorrect.

Rotimi Amaechi says that governors demanded the sharing of money from the Excess Crude Account (ECA) under the last federal government because it was not properly managed

According to him, governors demanded the sharing of money from the Excess Crude Account (ECA) under the last federal government because it was not properly managed.
Amaechi said: “I heard Mrs Okonjo-Iweala say that in the past administration, governors were unwilling to save; she is 30% correct and 70% incorrect.”
He explained further: “In 2009, we had an economic crisis so President Yar’adua put $1billion in the economy so no one felt the crisis. I can’t remember what was left in that account, the excess crude account.
“During Goodluck Jonathan, every month when the governors went for the economic council meeting, the amount in the account kept dropping. If we asked about what happened to the money, the response we got was that the president approved for it to be spent.
“So we said can we please share this money because the rate at which it was going, the president would have continually approved $1billion to spend and we won’t know what we are spending for and they won’t give us an account.
“So we told the vice president and the minister for finance that there was a need for us to share part of this money and we began to agitate. They now agreed to share part of the money and they did. In the first six months of Goodluck Jonathan, oil subsidy increased. Governors started complaining and then we had a meeting in the office of the president’s wife.
“At the meeting, we asked for assurance that the presidency would no longer collect for oil subsidy and he promised. It is not right for Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to say governors were not willing to save; governors were willing to save but we insisted on sharing the money when we saw that the money was not properly managed.”
The former governor of Rivers state said he agreed to serve as a minister because he believes in the administration’s capacity to serve.
“Refusing to serve when the president invited me to serve would mean that I did not have confidence in him. I am serving under the president because I believe that he is the man to help us at this particular time.”
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, former minister of finance, had on Thursday, April 14, said the zero political will to save under former president Goodluck Jonathan is responsible for Nigeria’s economic challenges.
Speaking on “inequality, growth and resilience” at George Washington University, USA, Okonjo-Iweala said Nigeria was able to save $22 billion under former president Olusegun Obasanjo, which saved the country in 2008, when there was global economic meltdown.
And according to her, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) must seek means to embed savings in national constitutions devoid of political manipulations.