NIGERIA’S EX MINISTER ALLEGES THAT GOVT OFFICIALS DIVERT FUNDS TO SPONSOR ELECTIONS…The former minister also said that it is better to also deal with the root cause of corruption in Nigeria than focusing only the symptoms.

Former Minister of finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has alleged that some government officials divert public funds to sponsor elections.

The former minister also said that it is better to also deal with the root cause of corruption in Nigeria than focusing only the symptoms.

Okonjo-Iweala said it is not enough to send people to jail and splash it all over the media, adding that if the root cause is not fixed, people will keep taking advantage of the loopholes to steal money.

She said this while speaking about her new book - Fighting Corruption is Dangerous, at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

According to Daily Post, the former minister also said “People are happy to see the symptoms being taken care of, punitive measure, you know it makes big headlines when people are hauled off to jail and the media blasts the story, which is good, there ought to be consequences and punitive actions but it’s not enough.

“If you don’t fix some of the root causes, the next set of people will come in, and with those opportunities, they might do the same thing.”

Okonjo-Iweala’s battle with Jonathan’s aide

The former minister, at another forum, shared how she was locked out of the presidential villa during former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration because she refused to play ball.

She also shared how a presidential aide who didn’t want a policy to take off because of vested interests, told her to back off.

She was subsequently stopped from praying with Jonathan and his family inside Aso Rock, like she had always done, when she refused to succumb to the threats.

“The presidential aide told me that he wanted to convey a message to me that there were people not happy with the port reforms especially the abolishment of the Cargo Tracking Note (CTN). And he asked me, indeed advised me to reinstate it. I was dismayed,” she added.

Meanwhile, former Governor of Cross-River state, Donald Duke has said that Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala left Nigeria poorer than she met it.