The House of Representatives finance committee
walked out the minister of finance, Ngozi Okonjo-
Iweala, Thursday, after a brief but stormy session
in which lawmakers tasked the minister with 50
questions on the state of the Nigerian economy.
Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala had earlier presented the
budget proposals for 2014 to the Senate and the
House of Representatives, before meeting the
house finance committee.
The minister said she was indisposed and only
responded to her invitation out of respect for the
legislature.
But when lawmakers offered to excuse her due to
her health, but with a condition she responds to
50 questions in writing within two weeks, the
minister backtracked choosing instead to answer
the questions at the meeting.
Exchanges between the minister and the
committee chairman, Abdulmumini Jibrin, quickly
escalated with Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala accusing the
committee of being disrespectful.
“With all due respect, I will not tell your
committee that I’m feeling fine when I’m not. We
have had good working relationship with your
committee; I thought we’ll be treated with
courtesy, but the way you’re starting is a bit
disturbing,” the minister said.
Mr. Jibrin said the committee had ruled that she
be allowed to go and respond to the questions.
“We don’t want any haphazard answers,” he said.
The minister insisted on being heard, but was
asked to leave.
“I’m sorry Honourable Minister. You can only
decide what happens in the Finance Ministry and
not in the House,” Mr. Jibrin said.
Read the lawmakers’ 50 questions below:
House Committee on Finance
Questions for the HMF/CME on the State of the
Economy
1. What should you consider as the major
economic achievements of this government in the
2013 fiscal year and why? In your explanation, we
will need facts and figures in demonstrating such
achievements.
2. You have been credited with many
announcements regarding Nigeria’s economy as
one of the fastest growing economies in Africa. If
the economy is one of the fast growing
economies, what is exactly growing the economy?
What role does government play in the said
economic growth, especially given that as high as
80 percent of the country’s total annual budget
spending still goes into recurrent expenditure?
3. Since your arrival as minister of finance in
2011, you have publicly announced the need to
reduce the recurrent expenditure so that more
money would be made available to capital
spending which is critical to growing and
diversifying the country’s economy. How far has
government succeeded in making these necessary
cuts; and where exactly have these cuts been
made in this effort to reduce recurrent
expenditure? In other words, based on real
amount spent on capital expenditure, how much
reduction was made in 2011 against 2010, in
2012 against 2011 and in 2013 against 2012?
4. You are known to be celebrating a single-
digit GDP growth. But speaking recently at a
breakfast dialogue with some members of the
organized private sector in Lagos, organized by
the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG),
you were quoted as saying: “We are growing, but
not creating enough jobs. That is a very big
challenge…We need to grow faster. I think it
needs to grow at least 9 to 10 percent to drive
job growth the way we want.” Don’t you agree
that a good finance minister managing an
economy like ours should be celebrating a GDP
growth as high as 20 percent annually? Why is it
that our economy cannot grow beyond a single
digit? How many jobs are being created as a
result of these said growths? In which sectors of
the economy are these jobs created? If in private
sector, what contributions is government making
to further assist these private sector firms?
5. In the presence of Nigeria’s huge
infrastructure deficit, why is it that the country’s
debt-to-GDP at about 19 percent in 2012 remains
one of the lowest in the world when compared to
nations already with world-class infrastructure
and industrial economies such as America’s 105
percent, Brazil’s 65.49 percent, India’s 67.60
percent, and South Africa’s 40.9 percent?
6. Since facts don’t lie, have you any
disagreements with the September 4, 2013 Global
Competitiveness Report of the World Economic
Forum for 2013-2014, which ranked Nigeria 120th
out of 148 countries ranked in the Global
Competitiveness Index, including being ranked far
behind some African countries such as Mauritius
45th, South Africa 53rd, and Kenya 96th?
7. ”For the first time in Nigeria’s 53rd year
history, we have successfully privatized the
electric power industry,’’ so said the President at
a recent meeting in London with some foreign
investors. As minister of finance should you agree
that the recent privatization of the country’s
power infrastructure is worth celebrating as a
major economic achievement in 2013, when in
reality there is little or nothing to show as an
improvement in the country power supply? Also
why our rush to wholesale privatization of the
power sector when countries like South Africa,
generating as high as 42,000MW still have their
power sector mostly in public hands?
8. What was your reaction to the November 12,
2013 statement credited to the World Bank
Country Director for Nigeria, Marie-Francoise
Marie-Nelly, who said that over 100 million
Nigerians are today living in absolute destitution,
representing an unheard-of 8.33 percent of the
world’s total number of people living in
destitution?
9. Nigerians are increasingly perplexed that these
days nothing happens without government
borrowing. And for most Nigerians, it is
frightening how those managing the economy are
just dragging us into excessively unproductive
debts. More worrisome is the fact that every
effort is being made to hide the details of the
country’s debt stock from Nigerians. Where are
the facts that the country’s current high rate of
borrowing is productive, let alone have the ability
to be repaid without having to resort to more
borrowings?
10. Is prudence in our borrowing simply reduction
in borrowing or simply constructive borrowing
with government putting necessary measures in
place to ensure that domestic debt profile is
properly supervised and utilized by curbing
corruption?
11. From Debt Management Office (DMO) 2012
Annual Report, the total public debt outstanding
between 2008 and 2012 for external stock rose
from $3.72bn to $6.53bn, while domestic stock
rose from $17.68bn to $41.97bn. The total debt
service the same period saw the percentage of
external debt service drastically reduced from
11.46 per cent to 5.96 per cent while the
percentage of domestic debt servicing grew from
88.54 per cent in 2008 to 94.04 per cent in 2012,
drastically increasing the cost of the total debt
service since the cost of domestic borrowing is
atrociously higher than the cost of external
borrowing. How could your debt sustainability
analysis rationalize this without seeing some
narrow interests being the overriding reason?
Could this be the explanation why commercial
banks in the country are declaring unheard-of
three digit profits and the high Foreign Portfolio
Investment and low Foreign Direct Investment?
12.It’s an established fact that the willingness
and ability to borrow do not automatically
translate into economic growth. If you agree with
this fact, how productive are the country’s recent
borrowings?
13. Why should our internal debts continue to
represent more than two-thirds of Nigeria’s
external debt profile, when the cost of servicing
domestic debts is ridiculously far more expensive
than servicing external debts? Why should
government continue to borrow internally when in
so doing results in insufficient funds, skyrockets
the cost of borrowing and above all, crowds out
the real sector from the money market? Shouldn’t
the high cost of domestic borrowing override
whatever are the assumed benefits? Since both
London Interbank Offer Rates (LIBOR) and the US
Treasury Bonds rates offer far better interest rates
for sovereign borrowings, why have we continued
not to take advantage of cheaper interest rates?
14. Your references to the country’s economic
growth profile have always been based on Fitch,
Standard and Poor’s, and Moody’s ratings. Are
you aware that these same rating agencies are
being sued in New York (with case #
652410/2013) by two Bear Stearns hedge funds
for fraudulently assigning inflated ratings to
securities in the run-up to the 2008 financial
crisis? If you do, why do you insist on accepting
the rating as reliable.
15. How much exactly has been the amount of
money lost in government revenue as a result of
import duty waivers in 2011, 2012 and 2013?
Provide the names and beneficiaries and
justification for same. In your opinion as the
minister of finance who oversees the economy,
what are the implications to the country’s
economy? What efforts have you have made to
stop this waiver policy, which is distorting the
economy? Our non oil income has dropped in
2013. A case where increased tariffs on various
items effectively reduced importation to zero in
some sectors. However, those items now find
their way into Nigeria through our borders. Does
it make any sense to increase these tariffs when
we have such porous borders? As an example,
officially, Togo imported more rice this year than
Nigeria.
16. It was reported that the FIRS is to engage
foreign consultants for tax collection in 2014.
Could the Minister clarify this position and what
Nigeria stands to gain? Have the FIRS not been
working effectively.
17. Do you really believe that Nigeria needs a
‘Sovereign Wealth Fund’ at this critical juncture of
budgetary deficits, and having to be borrowing
extensively in an effort to address government
revenue gaps? Shouldn’t the presence of Nigerian
Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) simply
mean spreading government’s scarce resources
thinly? Why will you insist that no matter what we
still need to operate a sovereign wealth fund?
Sincerely speaking, how sustainable are the
objectives of Nigeria’s Sovereign Wealth Fund,
particularly in the long-term?
18. You should agree that a lot of Nigerians are
interested in the link between NSIA and the
government. Since there is no doubt that Nigerian
Sovereign Investment Authority is an agent of
government — or is it not? The question is: How
should we think about the management structure
in so far as major decisions are concerned?
Where is the line between NSIA, as a
commercially minded entity, and the government,
especially given government’s policy of having no
business doing business? If, for example,
government does not get involved in specific
investments, then, who appoints the external
managers involved in managing some parts of the
NSIA funds?
19. Who determines the investment objective and
who establishes the risk parameter for the NSIA’s
portfolio? In providing answer to this question, it
is also important to understand and explain why
NSIA recently hired a Swiss national as its chief
portfolio investor? Answering this question is
important since it should help us to know who
determines the maximum draw-down that the
government would be comfortable with in
extremely negative market environments.
20. What should be your explanations for
awarding MasterCard a multimillion dollar
National Identity Smart Cards, when there are
indigenous ICT companies that not only have
what it takes but would have done it cheaper and
create local jobs at the same time?

21. Have you taken into considerations how
foreign company could use such information
available to it to invade the privacy of Nigerians?
22. What are reasons for SURE-P to give
preference to Chevrolet cars for SURE-P taxis,
when it is known that not only are such cars very
expensive to maintain compared with Asian and
European cars, but also are also not fuel efficient
and not durable on our roads?
23. Honorable Minister of Finance, you will agree
that SURE-P is very important to the people of
this country, taking into cognizance that it is the
only thing they stand to gain from the increase
on petroleum product pump prices almost 2 years
ago. Who is in charge of the management of
SURE-P and who takes responsibility for its
successes and failures?
24. You will agree that inasmuch as the interest
rate regime is critical to the real sector borrowing
decisions, most principal factor in making
borrowing decisions is the business’s expected
rate of return on investing borrowed money? The
question, without efforts to protect local
businesses from their foreign counterparts, the
high cost of doing business in Nigeria, puts them
at such a disadvantaged position that it makes
no economic sense borrowing to invest in their
local businesses, why should we expect private
sector firms to be investing in the economy?
25. You are quoted as saying, ” Very soon, the US
would become a net exporter of oil…So, it would
be disingenuous for anyone to say that just
because the price of oil has hovered at around
$100 per barrel, it cannot crash…Lest we forget,
as recently as 2008, oil prices crashed from a
peak of $147 per barrel to $35 per barrel ina
space of months triggered by the global financial
crisis. Is the minority leader saying he has
forgotten that?” This forces one to wonder from
which source should the US become that net
exporter of oil, given that the US daily oil
consumption was 18.7 million barrels with (10.6
million of which was imported daily) in 2012? Or,
should it be from the shale oil which the
International Energy Agency (IEA) demonstrates
to be at two million barrels daily? In other words,
given the IEA global oil price trajectory, can’t we
agree that “There are many constraints on supply
keeping pace with demand’’ which means that
within this decade, oil prices should always hover
around $125 per barrel? Answering this question
will help us understand why you insist on
benchmarking the oil price for the 2014
appropriation at below $79 per barrel? In
answering this question, would you also agree
that as the global economy shifts from West to
Asia, so will the appetite for global oil
consumption shift from the West to Asia?
As crude oil continues to sell at $100-$110, how
low will production have to fall for us to record a
net loss or at what production level can we break
even at a 2013 benchmark of $79.
26. Do you agree that the Excess Crude Account
as being operated by government is illegal and
unconstitutional, especially given how it has been
managed?
27. Can you explain with clarity how the ECA is
being operated? Also provide a statement of
account of the ECA from 2011 to 2013? Also how
much have we made in excess of the benchmark
price from January 2013 till date.
28. If there is nothing like Excess Crude Account,
would you have been demanding lower oil price
benchmark for the budget, especially when the
executive arm of government around world is
known for demanding more money from
lawmakers in order to be able to meet
government spending obligations, particularly
capital spending. Why is the reverse the case in
Nigeria only, notably since 2011?
29. With respect to the Excess crude account and
our Sovereign wealth fund again, there have been
allegations and counter allegations on its legality.
Assuming, for the sake of the committee’s
enlightenment, the FGN alone saved its own
excess in its ECA/SWF (which is about 52% of the
Federation account) and the states and LGs get
their funds in full compliance with the
constitution, what would be the effect on the
economy?
30. Do you believe in the fight against corruption?
If you do why has EFCC not been proper funded?
Without properly funding the commission, how
should it be expected to carry out its duties
effectively?
31. Can you confirm with figures if we have met
our cumulative revenue projections for 2011,
2012, 2013, and if we have, how and if we have
not, why? Also provide backup performance
information under the various revenue generating
agencies—NNPC (Oil and Gas), DPR, FIRS,
Customs, Independent Revenue and other
anticipated and unanticipated revenues e.g.
privatization and sales of government properties
etc.
32. As Minister of Finance, are you familiar and
comfortable with all the present business
arrangements of the NNPC? Why were these
business arrangements excluded from the MTEF
which used to be the practice? Provide all the
present business arrangements, the parties
involved, the share of each party, and
justifications for such.
33. Provide details of government stake in NLNG.
All categories of revenue under the NLNG and
total amount generated so far and evidence of
remittances.
34. Why do you always prefer a lower benchmark
which leaves government with wider deficits and
your attitude of no qualms with domestic
borrowings at excessively high interest rates to
balance deficit as against our position of
increasing benchmark to reduce deficit which
consequently reduces domestic borrowing, that
frees up funds for the real sector of the economy,
thereby bringing down the interest rate, increased
private sector investments and creating jobs.
35. What is the total amount expended by certain
statutory agencies of government without
appropriation for 2011, 2012, and 2013? Also
provide aggregate appropriated expenditure for
the same period. As the Coordinating Minister of
the Economy, do you feel comfortable with
allegations that almost equal amount of our
yearly aggregate expenditure is being spent
without appropriation, yet we are crying that the
country is running short of revenue?

36. Between May 7 and 9, 2014, it is expected
that Nigeria will be hosting World Economic
Forum on Africa. Who will finance this event and
why? In concrete terms, what are the expected
tangible benefits to the country in return to justify
hosting such expensive event that will require lots
of money for logistics, accommodations, security,
especially given that South Africa that recently
hosted the event has nothing to show for it.
37. If you should for any reason say it will attract
foreign investors, the question, then becomes,
what kind of foreign investors are we talking
about here because as we all know, no serious
foreign investor needs to attend such a forum in
Nigeria in order to recognize that our country
should have been one of the world’s favored
investment destinations had our perennial
infrastructure deficit been addressed head-on?
38. Most of the developing economies like China,
India, and Brazil that the world is today
celebrating as economic success wouldn’t have
become this successful without adopting multi-
year development plans. Why after knowing that
their successes are as a result of carefully
designed multi-year economic planning, we are
yet to adopt such a multi-year development
model? In other words, why wouldn’t you agree
that Nigeria too needs that in order to move
faster and more sustainably in its quest for
industrialization and economic diversification and
job creation for millions of the country’s
unemployed young men and women?
39. As the Coordinating Minister of the Economy,
can you precisely clarify how much is AMCON’s
debt exposure and what will its defaulting mean
to the country’s economy?
40. Why are we using the 10 to 15 years moving
average to arrive at your 2014 proposed
benchmark as against the traditional 5 to 10
years moving average we have always used? Is it
because using the 5 -10 year average will not
give you the benchmark price you desire?
41. This time last year you informed this
committee that our external reserve position was
about $48 billion and the balance on our excess
crude account was about $9 billion. You also
said that the plan was to grow these balances to
about $50 billion and $10 billion respectively.
However we are hearing that the balances have
dropped to $43 billion and $3 billion respectively.
And you are saying all is well?
42. Crude oil projections for 2013 were 2.53
million barrels per day while actual figures as
supplied by the NNPC/DPR/MTEF have averaged
about 2.3 million barrels per day giving a shortfall
of about 9%. Could this alone have caused such a
drastic reduction in our reserves and savings
positions?
43. Is any money missing from our anticipated
revenue from the NNPC in particular and oil
industry in general. If there is, how much? If not,
how come such issues emanate from high offices
in the executive arm of Government?
44. Referring to the pre-shipment inspection of
exports act of 1996 and the Federal ministry of
Finance export guidelines. If any good (oil, gas or
non oil) is exported from Nigeria the exporter is
compelled to repatriate these proceeds through
the domiciliary account of a Nigerian bank. What
has been the effectiveness of these laws? Is there
full compliance.
45. If there has not been compliance, would it not
make it difficult for us to build up our foreign
reserves? Could we not say that the main thrust
of the CBN letter was that our foreign reserves
are not growing even though there has been a
consistent high selling price of crude due to the
fact that huge funds are not being repatriated at
all or are repatriated through the black market?
46. Could we say that the issue is not so much
that money is missing (which is yet to be
determined) but that proceeds that should have
found their way back to the Nigerian economy
have grown wings or they fly in through the black
market, allowing oil industry players have a field
day making spreads of up to N7 per dollar in
some cases.
47. What is the Minister’s take on the apparent
stagnation of the economy as there seems to be
very little job creation and growth in small
businesses. Even though the Minister has read
out growth figures before it is not telling on the
average man on the street.
48. Would the Minister say that the various
Government initiatives at job creation have not
lived up to expectation as they affect only a very
small part of the population?
49. Wouldn’t the Minister think that the private
sector should be the main driver of job and
wealth creation through natural growth of
business and start ups being financed by the
banking industry?
50. If so, what does the Minister think it would do
for the local banking industry if this same pre-
shipment inspection law and your own export
guidelines are enforced to the letter. The oil
industry in Nigeria is worth about $50 billion per
annum. If even $10 billion of this passes through
our local banks wouldn’t that give the economy a
boost with banks now able to fund longer term
and bigger projects?

See Common Entrance questions.

All I can see are antagonistic questions borne out of low self esteem and desire to showcase Paper knowledge devoid of practical experience.

Now I understand why the Committee Chairman couldn't engage and debate NOI orally without prior written answers to his elementary questions.

Let's take the questions one after the other and provide answers to honourable Chairman without NOI input.

See questions o. Even Phd exams nor be like this. Can any of them answer that ? Well the HMF is a very intelligent woman that non of their questns can throw her off balance. Silly idiots nd fools. How much ve they reduced frm their salaries to help reduce cost of recurrent expenditure instead they're askin 4 more. Fools nd clowns.

Ngwakwe: See Common Entrance questions.

All I can see are antagonistic questions borne out of low self esteem and desire to showcase Paper knowledge devoid of practical experience.

Now I understand why the Committee Chairman couldn't engage and debate NOI orally without prior written answers to his elementary questions.

Let's take the questions one after another and provide answers to honourable Chairman without NOI input.

And you called these common entrance questions? For your information i have Msc in Economics, and i dare say these are real macro and micro economic questions/indices of which the minister owes us an explanation. The problem with you is that you see everything through the prism of ethnicity and politics. I stopped quoting you when i discovered you were not as intelligent as you appeared.

its a good idea d minister is given enuf time to provide ansa's to d questions..
Dis one(i.e d question) no b childplay ooo

Good questions. Incisive issues.

Are these the questions she wanted to address verbally even though she wasn't feeling fine?

Just like their fellow dullard sanusi.the questions would be answered one by one hope they make the hearing public so that nigerians can watch dr okonjo lecture these illitrates. Bunch of clowns

Remember the Chairman specifically told NOI to provide the answers in two weeks and told her he will also make those questions Public before she submits her answers.

Now, tell me why bringing these questions to court of public opinion if he doesn't intend to politicise the hearing?

All I see is the committee looking for free lecture materials and an avenue to find faults in paragraphs they fail to digest in her submissions.

Clerverly:

And you called these common entrance questions? For your information i have Msc in Economics, and i dare say these are real macro and micro economic questions/indices of which the minister owes us an explanation. The problem with you is that you see everything through the prism of ethnicity and politics. I stopped quoting you when i discovered you were not as intelligent as you appeared.

Ngwakwe: See Common Entrance questions.

All I can see are antagonistic questions borne out of low self esteem and desire to showcase Paper knowledge devoid of practical experience.

Now I understand why the Committee Chairman couldn't engage and debate NOI orally without prior written answers to his elementary questions.

Let's take the questions one after the other and provide answers to honourable Chairman without NOI input.

How are these questions antagonistic or intended to showcase 'paper knowledge'?

I really don't understand many Nigerians!

On one hand, you guys complain that the over-paid House of Reps members are idle and not doing enough. On the other hand, you're condemning them for performing an indepth oversight function on the Finance Ministry. What do you want? How do you want them to go about it?

Which of these 50 questions are useless?

If you were patriotic, the question you should be putting to the House of Reps and the Senate is why are they not giving this same treatment or putting similar questions to ALL the other Ministers?

Ngwakwe: Remember the Chairman specifically told NOI to provide the answers in two weeks and told her he will also make those questions Public before she submits her answers.

Now, tell me why bringing these questions to court of public opinion if he doesn't intend to politicise the hearing?

All I see is the committee looking for free lecture materials and an avenue to find faults in paragraphs they fail to digest in her submissions.

Court of public opinion? When it was the Finance Minister that said she was sick?

Free lecture materials?

Now this is getting ridiculous.

I've advised many of you to know when to keep quiet or ignore some events. The more you try to defend an issue that's as clear as daylight, the more ridiculous you appear.

Some of the questions defy logic and are symptomatic of economic illiteracy but they play well with a benighted populace.

15. How much exactly has been the amount of
money lost in government revenue as a result of
import duty waivers in 2011, 2012 and 2013?
Provide the names and beneficiaries and
justification for same. In your opinion as the
minister of finance who oversees the economy,
what are the implications to the country’s
economy? What efforts have you have made to
stop this waiver policy, which is distorting the
economy? Our non oil income has dropped in
2013. A case where increased tariffs on various
items effectively reduced importation to zero in
some sectors. However, those items now find
their way into Nigeria through our borders. Does
it make any sense to increase these tariffs when
we have such porous borders? As an example,
officially, Togo imported more rice this year than
Nigeria.
...................................................................


20. What should be your explanations for
awarding MasterCard a multimillion dollar
National Identity Smart Cards, when there are
indigenous ICT companies that not only have
what it takes but would have done it cheaper and
create local jobs at the same time?
-------------------------------------------------

22. What are reasons for SURE-P to give
preference to Chevrolet cars for SURE-P taxis,
when it is known that not only are such cars very
expensive to maintain compared with Asian and
European cars, but also are also not fuel efficient
and not durable on our roads?
-----------------------------------------------------------

47. What is the Minister’s take on the apparent
stagnation of the economy as there seems to be
very little job creation and growth in small
businesses. Even though the Minister has read
out growth figures before it is not telling on the
average man on the street.





[color=#000099]


I need an answer sharply .... [/color]

unuane1: Can any of them answer that ?.

Why should they answer them The answers to these questions fall within the ambits of her jurisdiction. If she knows her onions, she should be able to provide clear cut answers to them.

I'm especially interested in Q41 and 47.

I doubt the veracity of the post though.

[

The questions are not that difficult, however, some mentioned statistics are incorrect and hypothetical.

30. Do you believe in the fight against corruption? If you do why has EFCC not been proper funded? Without properly funding the commission, how should it be expected to carry out its duties effectively?

Just look at the question above and tell me what the question is pointing to.

Is the Finance Ministry responsible for the amount allocated to EFCC?

In my own opinion, the NASS underfunded EFCC after critically examining the amount allocated to them during budget defence knowing fully well that they have the powers to increase EFCC allocation in the budget and that the FG only presents estimates.

Why didn't the NASS increase or even triple EFCC allocation?

Is the committee trying to accuse NOI of withholding EFCC funds when the amount budgeted has already finished?

karl max: Just like their fellow dullard sanusi.the questions would be answered one by one hope they make the hearing public so that nigerians can watch dr okonjo lecture these illitrates. Bunch of clowns

You are unfit to use that monika.

Some of this question are on point.

Ngwakwe:

Just look at the question above and tell me what the question is pointing to.

Is the Finance Ministry responsible for the amount allocated to EFCC?

In my own opinion, the NASS underfunded EFCC after critically examining the amount allocated to them during budget defence knowing fully well that they have the powers to increase EFCC allocation in the budget and that the FG only presents estimates.

Why didn't the NASS increase or even triple EFCC allocation?

Is the committee trying to accuse NOI of withholding EFCC funds when the amount budgeted has already finished?

The ministry of finance prepares the budget not the National assembly.

Did you watch the video? You have just repeated this same comment you made when you were ignorantly arguing who should present the budget to NASS. At last NASS categorically stated 'it was tradition for President to present the budget but that NOI presenting the budget is constitutional than GEJ doing it'.

The Chairman of the committee wasn't in anyway prepared to take on NOI without perusing her written answers to those questions before engaging her.

NOI told him categorically that she has the answers to those questions there with her including the statement of facts, figures and the presentations and needn't go anywhere for extended preparation.

Pukkah:

Court of public opinion? When it was the Finance Minister that said she was sick?

Free lecture materials?

Now this is getting ridiculous.

[s] I've advised many of you to know when to keep quiet or ignore some events. The more you try to defend an issue that's as clear as daylight, the more ridiculous you appear [/s] .

How can any sane individual object to Okonjo Iweala providing answers to these 50 questions? Whether she answered them on her last visit to the Reps or does it at a later date and time?

I hide my face in shame due to the objections I see on this thread, primarily by people who are supposedly educated and should know better.

[size=18pt]This is what two party democracy is all about!
[/size]

Enough with the bullsh*t about tribe, and religion, open letters, and other distractions.

Let them argue about facts and figures!!!
I feel like crying!

This is the dawn of a beautiful new age in Nigeria.

Every Ministry and Parastatal prepares and defends their budget while NASS has powers to increase or decrease the amount allocated.

A-ZeD:

The ministry of finance prepares the budget not the National assembly.

Clerverly:

And you called these common entrance questions? For your information i have Msc in Economics, and i dare say these are real macro and micro economic questions/indices of which the minister owes us an explanation. The problem with you is that you see everything through the prism of ethnicity and politics. I stopped quoting you when i discovered you were not as intelligent as you appeared.

Yes o!

They are daft tribalists who want this country to burn so long as it benefits them.

[size=18pt]THE FINANCE MINISTER AND OUR NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ARE ARGUING OVER THE ECONOMY! IN NIGERIA! IN NIGERIA! NO REALLY, IN NIGERIA EVEN!

I MUST BE DREAMING![/size]