The camp of former President
Goodluck Jonathan, has spoken on the comment attributed to President Muammadu
Buhari on the Sovereign Wealth Fund.
Former presidential aide, Reno
Omokri, on behalf of Jonathan’s Media Office, on Friday, reacted to the
statement released through the Presidency’s Twitter account, @NGRPresident.
The handle tweeted: “Investing
for the Future: The @nsia_nigeria has received cash inflows of $1.15 billion
under the @MBuhari Administration: $250 million in 2016, $250 million in 2017
and $650 million in 2018.”
According to Reno, the Buhari
government
alleged that the past government,
which created the Sovereign Wealth Fund in 2012, failed to save money in the
fund after the initial $1 billion deposit it made into it.
He advised the Buhari government
to respect the period of Ramadan and stop dishing out “lies” against Jonathan.
Omokri said: “Such a lie, coming
at a time when the President is meant to be fasting is shocking!
“The truth is that after starting
up the Sovereign Wealth Fund with an initial deposit of $1 billion in 2011, the
Nigerian Governors Forum, led by Rotimi Amaechi and supported by other
Governors who later joined the APC, took the Jonathan administration to court
to declare the Sovereign Wealth Fund illegal and assert their claim that the
Jonathan led Federal Government could not force them to save.
“In fact, Mr, Rotimi Amaechi
released a statement justifying his opposition to the Sovereign Wealth Fund on
August 31, 2011.
“Many attempts by the Jonathan
administration to settle the matter out of court were rebuffed by Mr. Amaechi
and his colleagues who had a hidden agenda to frustrate the plans by the
Jonathan administration to save for a rainy day.
“Working in tandem with Mr.
Amaechi and his supporters in the Nigerian Governors Forum, the then minority
APC members of the House of Representatives also filed another suit at a
Federal High Court on the 7th of February, 2014, seeking a perpetual injunction
restraining the Jonathan administration from operating the Excess Crude
Account, from which they intended to source for money to fund the Sovereign
Wealth Fund, and to pay all the proceeds of that account into the Federation
Account for sharing amongst the three tiers of government.
“As a result of these actions,
the Jonathan administration paid the 36 states of the federation a total of
N2.92 trillion from the Excess Crude Account between 2011 and 2014. Using the
value of the Naira at that time that amount was just above $20 billion dollars.
“It therefore amounts to
historical revision for the Presidency to make these spurious allegations
against the Jonathan administration,
“President Muhammadu Buhari should be aware
that just like I told him, after the many lies from his Democracy Day Speech,
Ramadan fast does not just mean abstaining from food, it also means abstaining
from lies.”
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com