Former Minister of Finance , Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has again come up with a defence of herself in the ongoing $2.1 billion arms deal scandal, which has engulfed many big names in nigeria.
Okonjo-Iweala maintains her innocence saying that in all her dealings, she strove to protect the interest of the country.
In a statement by Mr. Paul Nwabuikwu, her media aide, Okonjo-Iweala, alleged that unscrupulous and compromised individuals had distorted the contents of her memo to former president Goodluck Jonathan, seeking the transfer of $300 million and £5.5 million to the Office of the National Security Adviser, to portray her in bad light.
Okonjo-Iweala has been the butt of public criticisms for working with Dasuki to divert the funds meant for the procurement of arms and ammunition for the armed forces.
Edo State governor has made consistent calls meant to impugn the integrity of the former World Bank managing Director, who was minister of Finance for the four years .
Dasuki, has since been charged as the primary suspect in the arms deal fraud of about $2.1 billion and is currently cooling his heels in the security net.
The statement reads: “ For the past week, Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole and other compromised persons and media have embarked on a campaign of falsehood against Dr Okonjo-Iweala. They have distorted the contents of the January 20 memo in which she responded to a request by the former National Security Adviser and quoted selectively from the document to make their false allegations of ‘illegal diversion’ of funds.
“For your information and a fuller understanding of the issues, please see the attached January 20 memo by Dr Okonjo-Iweala as published by some online sites. It confirms that Dr Okonjo-Iweala is a transparent person of integrity and patriotic professional who worked hard to protect the interest of the country and that her accusers are purveyors of falsehood on a political mission to tarnish an innocent patriot.”
See memo attached:
