Lawyer replies Okonjo-Iweala, calls her a liar

Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, has replied the former minister of finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s comments about him.

You will recall that the ex-minister alleged that Falana made the statement because she “hurt the interests of his corrupt sponsors” while she was in office.

Falana, in his reply, said Iweala’s service to Nigeria was characterised by lies and deceit.

He said “Her baseless attack is not unusual as she is always quick to deflect criticisms by accusing anyone seeking to hold her to account for her appalling records in government of ulterior political motives.

“When former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, alleged that about N30tn could not be accounted for under her watch, he was described as ‘an embittered loser in the Nigerian political space.”

“When Governor Adams Oshiomhole questioned the illegal withdrawal of $2bn from the Excess Crude Account, he was accused of having animus towards her because she had blocked Edo State from obtaining a loan.

“Therefore, instead of exchanging vulgar abuse with the former minister, I shall respond to the diversionary allegations which lacerated her response and the attempt to extricate herself from the mass looting of the commonwealth under her watch,” Falana said.

Punch reports that the human rights lawyer also faulted claims by Okonjo-Iweala, saying that only $500m was recovered from the Abacha loot.

Femi Falana was the Ekiti state Governorship candidate of the National Conscience Party(NCP) in 2007.