Okonkwo-Iweala’s U-turn – by Frank Ofili
187 viewsIt is a telling indictment that a former Minister would admit that an unconstitutional body like the Governors Forum stopped the federal government from doing what was right. How? By taking the government to court.
The tragedy is not that this actually happened. The tragedy is that some people are actually sold on this explanation. I have looked through the constitution and could not find any where the governors forum was provided for.
"I respect Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and no doubt she is brilliant, but it is really amusing, isn't it, to hear her say that a body that was formed purely for comity had the power to stop a government from taking a course of action."
My question then is, why didn't the government let the Supreme Court decide on the matter? Why did the government opt to settle out of court? The answer is because the interest of the ruling party was served then, being that the governors forum was dominated by the ruling party.
Soon someone would tell us that OPC or Egbesu Boys or Ugborikoko youth forum stopped the government from performing it's constitutional duty. And guess what? Some people will buy it.
And to think that this was the same woman who, when PMB was shouting that he met an empty treasury, claimed that the government she served under as the coordinating minister of the economy left billions of dollars behind. Even more, this was the same woman who served another government as Finance Minister and saved the country $60 billion in foreign reserve in addition to securing favorable debt write-off for our country. And you know what? The same governors forum was around then.
Now hear her telling us that the immediate past government she served didn't save a dime because of governors forum. Am I missing something here? Or is she doing a Tope Aluko?
I respect Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and no doubt she is brilliant, but it is really amusing, isn't it, to hear her say that a body that was formed purely for comity had the power to stop a government from taking a course of action.