Former Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for Economy under former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said that she will ask a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, to set aside its judgment, ordering her to “provide information on the spending of the alleged missing N30 trillion which represents some accruable income to the Federal Government during the last four years of the administration of Jonathan.” Media Adviser to Dr Okonjo-Iweala, Mr Paul Nwabuikwu in a statement, yesterday, said “It is curious that the first time Dr Okonjo-Iweala is being made aware of a matter against her in court is in news reports reporting the delivery of judgment. She has instructed her lawyers to take steps to set aside the judgment as it affects her.”
NGOZI OKONJO-IWEALA According to him, “Our attention has been drawn to media reports regarding a court judgment alleged to have been entered against the Federal Government of Nigeria and Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in respect of an action by the Socio-Economic Rights Agenda, SERAP, pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act. “The High Court, according to the media reports, ordered the Federal government and Dr. Okonjo Iweala to provide information relating to N30 trillion allegedly unaccounted for. “Please note the following: Dr Okonjo-Iweala hastens to state that she was never served with any court processes in relation to the said matter. She has not read the judgment and would therefore, defer any comments on the matter. “However, from the media reports, the case was instituted in February 2015 but was not served until July 2015 after Dr Okonjo-Iweala had already ceased to be the Minister of Finance.
“By the date the said papers were purportedly served, Dr Okonjo-Iweala was no longer a public officer and could therefore not be the subject of a request for production of any documents or information under the Freedom of Information Act.
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