The Federal Government, yesterday, accused the former Governor of
Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, of poor managerial
ability, saying he was largely responsible for the N5.67 trillion
contingent liabilities of distressed banks, bought up by the Asset
Management Corporation of Nigeria, AMCON, to save the banking industry
in 2008.
Reacting to Soludo’s comments on the economic downturn in the country,
the Federal Government also said the former CBN governor was “an
embittered” loser in the Nigerian political space and out
to discredit the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan.
The Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, in a lengthy response in Abuja, yesterday, said
Soludo deliberately distorted facts to suit his mission when indeed, he
should have hid his head in shame after plunging the Nigerian banking
sector into an unprecedented crisis in 2008.
Okonjo-Iweala’s response was signed by her Special Adviser on the Media, Mr. Paul Nwabuikwu.
Embittered loser
She said: “It shows how an embittered loser in the Nigerian political
space can get so derailed that they commit intellectual harakiri by
deliberately misquoting economic facts and maliciously turning
statistics on their head to justify a hatchet job.
“We cannot go by someone’s subjective view, driven by bitterness. We
need to look to the truth and to professionalism. This is where
Professor Soludo totally fails.”
She said Soludo was in desperate search for relevance in the country,
after being left in the cold after his futile attempts to become
governor of Anambra State.
According to her, “he claims in his article that he has had his own
share of public service, yet he has failed twice in his attempts to be
governor of Anambra State and Vice Presidential candidate of various
parties.
Desperate search for power and relevance
“There is definitely an issue of character with Prof. Charles Soludo and
his desperate search for power and relevance in Nigeria. Nigerians
should, therefore, beware of so-called intellectuals without character
and wisdom because this combination is fatal.
“So much of what is written is outright nonsense and self-seeking
aggrandizement that need not be dignified with a response. It is totally
remarkable that Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, the man who presided
over the worst mismanagement of Nigeria’s banking sector as Governor of
the Central Bank of Nigeria between May 2004 and May 2009, can write
about the mismanagement of the economy.
“Nigerians must be reminded of his antecedents as CBN Governor, and even
prior to that, as the Chief Economic Adviser to the President. The
consolidation of the banking sector was a good policy idea of the
Obasanjo administration but Soludo went on to thoroughly mismanage its
implementation leading to the worst financial crisis in Nigeria’s
history. So what did Soludo do?”
N5.67trn contingent liabilities of distressed banks
The government alleged that as CBN governor, Soludo compromised the
banking supervision mandate of the apex bank, leaving a questionable
corporate governance practice in many banks where managers of the banks
gave themselves and cronies huge amounts of money in loans without
collateral.
“So, let it be noted for the record books that Soludo’s single-handed
mismanagement of the banking sector led to an incredible accumulation of
liabilities that will cost tax payers about N5.67 trillion (being the
total face value of AMCON-issued bonds) to clean up.
“Let it be noted also that this amount, which is more than the entire
Federal Government 2015 budget, constitutes the bulk of Nigeria’s
‘contingent liabilities’ mentioned in Soludo’s article.”
Soludo an embittered loser in search of relevance, says FG
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Oleh
healthandwealth
