Former Finance minister and World Bank Managing Director, Dr. Ngọzi Okonjo-Iweala, has stated that the 17 billion which she wrote in her book as the price the country paid before the 2015 budget could be passed into law was not a bribe as being speculated in the media but an increment in the budget by the National Assembly.
The said increment in her recently published book ‘Fighting Corruption Is Dangerous: the Story Behind the Headlines’ has generated concerns among Nigerians, with many accusing her of aiding corrupt practices.
However, in a statement released through her Facebook page, Okonjo-Iweala, debunked such assertions, saying that the lawmakers increased the budget by 17 billion and they had to accept so that the country can make progress.
Read her statement below
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1880649845318604&id=204329982950607
“It has come to my attention that mischief makers are again trying to distort what is written in my book, ‘Fighting Corruption is Dangerous: the Story Behind the Headlines’, for their own political purposes.
One more time, It is important that people read the book for themselves. In the case of the N17billion, the book does not talk of bribe. It indicates that lawmakers increased the budget by N17billion and we had to accept that to move on; hence, the term “price to pay”.
The reason for discussing what happened is that this approach needs to change. The country must clear up and clarify its budget process for the future to improve. Those like Hon Gbajabiamiala trying to introduce lies that myself and my aides put in our own projects and lawmakers were fighting with me on that basis are playing their usual cynical games and Nigerians are tired of that!
Lies obscure the country’s problems and do not allow us to improve. There were and there still are politicians in the National Assembly trying to do the right thing. The book also points that out. Such well-meaning legislators should not allow their strident colleagues to twist matters and divert attention from the need to improve the country’s budget process so our young people can see a better side of their country”
