Deregulation Of Petroleum Industry Is Not My Personal Policy - Okonjo-Iweala

The Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has said the deregulation of the downstream sector of the petroleum industry was not her personal policy but that of the government, debunking reports that she threatened to resign if it was reversed.

Also Thursday, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, denied rumours that he had resigned his appointment. Okonjo-Iweala described internet reports that she threatened to resign as “outright lies”, adding that it was being executed by “some cowardly persons”.


The minister, who spoke through her Senior Special Assistant, Mr. Paul C. Nwabuikwu, said that some cowardly persons were taking advantage of the controversy over the government’s decision to deregulate the petroleum sector to campaign against her position.

Nwabuikwu explained: “For obvious reasons, the faceless campaigners have elected to tell their lies online because the normal journalistic principles of facts and balanced reporting are generally absent there. For instance, we have received numerous enquiries regarding an alleged threat by the Coordinating Minister to resign if the government goes back on its decision to end the fuel subsidies. The threat was supposedly made during the emergency Federal Executive Council meeting which held Thursday.

“This speculation, like numerous others, is absolutely false. Okonjo-Iweala was not at the meeting because she was out of the country when it was going on. In other words, they are saying that she made a threat at a meeting that she did not attend. She made no such threat physically or through any other means. She had no reason to.  The agenda behind the alleged threat and similar stories is obvious: to inspire public hatred and odium against her person by manipulating public opinion so that she is seen as the sole person pushing for the removal of subsidies.”

He added: “Their calculation is that Nigerians are so angry and so gullible that they will believe anything if the lies are supported with manufactured ‘facts’. But we believe that fair minded Nigerians are not fools. “It is clear that governments and certainly the Jonathan administration do not work in the manner that the peddlers of falsehood are saying. It is not only naive but also highly disrespectful to the President and the government as a whole to suggest that the entire decision making machinery of government is the sole preserve of any official.”

Nwabuikwu maintained that the deregulation of the oil industry would help to end the waivers enjoyed by powerful cabals at the expense of the Nigerian people. In addition, he argued that majority of Nigerians would also gain from the government’s decision, saying that the proceeds would be redirected into safety nets, other identifiable social interventions, as well as provision of sorely needed infrastructure projects nationwide.

Presidency also denied as “false and lies concocted by fifth columnists” latching on to the removal of fuel subsidy to spread false rumours over news that Abati had resigned. Responding to questions yesterday evening on the matter, Abati said it was false rumour by those trying hard without facts to discredit the removal of fuel subsidy and insisted that there was no truth in the rumour which should be disregarded.

He said he had just finished speaking to both the international and local media where he defended the policy and would not have resigned over an issue he deftly believes in, adding that there was no truth in the rumour. “It is not true. I am at my duty post, loyal and faithful. And if it is that I should resign, well it is just their own wishful thinking which will not happen,” he said.

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