Human rights lawyer Femi Falana has expressed concern that Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria’s former Finance Minister & Coordinating Minister for the Economy, this week chose the path of a scurrilous personal attack on him for requesting the ICC to investigate the crimes against humanity committed by some former public officers.
In a letter to the Special Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Falana had called for the trial of past and current Nigerian officials, military and civilian, indicted in the investigation of the diversion of billions of dollars meant for purchase of arms to fight Boko Haram.
In the letter, he had said, “The failure of a former Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to prevent widespread and systematic corruption including the re-looting of the Abacha loot amounts to complicity under the Rome Statute, and therefore fits the legal requirements of a crime against humanity.”
Rejecting the call two days ago, Okonjo-Iweala described it as a “desperate joke by an integrity challenged charlatan”.
In a strongly-worded rejoinder on Wednesday, Falana pointed out that name-calling has become characteristic of the former Minister in her attempts to extricate herself from the mass looting of the commonwealth under her watch.
“When Professor Chukwuma Soludo alleged that about N30 trillion could not be accounted for under her watch he was described as "an embittered loser in the Nigerian political space." When Comrade Adams Oshiomole questioned the illegal withdrawal of $2 billion from the Excess Crude Account, he was accused of having animus towards her because she had blocked Edo State from obtaining a loan.”
He noted that Okonjo-Iweala continues to give the erroneous impression that she rendered selfless service to the nation.
“But while her colleagues who served as Ministers under President Olusegun Obasanjo were paid their salaries and allowances in the local currency she received hers in dollars despite a judgment of the Court of Appeal which had declared the payment illegal and unconstitutional in the case of Fawehinmi v The President (2007) 14 NWLR (Pt 1054) 275,” he said.
Similarly, he drew attention to the former Minister’s efforts to whip up sentiments by referring to the unfortunate kidnap of her 84-year mother, two years ago, pointing out that the elements involved were arrested by the Lagos State Police Command. “From the report of police investigation the kidnappers were palace guards who were inspired by sheer avarice,” he said. “In fact, they were arrested by the Police following the disagreement over the sharing of the N12 million ransom paid to them for the criminal enterprise.”
Falana said that the most ludicrous of Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala allegations was that some “corrupt elements” are using him as a tool, underlining that the former Minister did not only fail to support the claim, but that it is also illogical.
“My request that the disbursement of the Abacha loot be investigated is further buttressed by the fact that the $500m Dr. Okonjo-Iweala claimed was spent on development projects was also not appropriated by the National Assembly, contrary to constitutional provisions,” he stressed, noting that he has asked the EFCC to discountenance the 700-page report of the World Bank which has listed some phantom projects executed with the $500 million.
Falana also drew attention to the 2011 Appropriation Act in which N245 billion was budgeted for fuel subsidy.
“But at the end of the year, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala had authorized the illegal payment of about N2.5 trillion to a cabal of fuel importers. As usual, she washed off her hands like Pontius Pilate.”
He recalled that towards unearthing the monumental fuel subsidy fraud, he petitioned the EFCC and gave oral testimony before the House of Representatives Committee which separately investigated it. “In the same vein, I have just asked the Group Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation under the Freedom of Information Act to provide information on the failure of the NNPC to pay into the Federation Account the sum of $9.7 billion out of the $11.8 billion dividends paid by NLNG from 2004-2014. I have equally demanded information from the NEITI over its claim that the NNPC and some oil companies are indebted to the Federal Government to the tune of $19.1 billion.”
With reference to Okonjo-Iweala’s claim that he is unfamiliar with the mandate of the International Criminal Court, Falana said that shows that the former Minister has not been following the practice of the court and its active and robust approach to its mandates, particularly with regard to the investigation of crimes in Darfur, the warrant of arrest for Joseph Kony (Uganda), and the warrant of arrest for Ahmad Harun, (Sudan).
“In many decided cases, the ICC has expanded its mandate to humanitarian issues, aimed at forestalling and impeding the perpetration of crimes which cause gross human rights abuse,” he said. “There is absolutely nothing in the Rome Statute of the ICC to suggest that the court cannot address impunity for enormous financial crimes (and its crippling impact) which took place while Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala was the Finance Minister and the Coordinating Minister of the economy.
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