meeting it called over the state of the economy of the
country from January till date.
The minister, alongside the Accountant-General of the
Federation, Mr Jonah Ogunniyi Otunla, had appeared before
the committee, chaired by Honourable Abdulmumin Jibrin,
but trouble started when she told the committee that she was
not feeling fine and that she honoured the invitation out of
respect.
"I must tell you that I'm feeling sick. For the past one week,
I've not had sleep, so I'm not feeling fine. But I had to come
because I respect the parliament and the committee. I'll try
my best to respond to your questions as much as possible, and
my other colleagues who are also here with me will
contribute," she said.
Following her explanations, Honourable Jibrin, in consultation
with other members of the committee, ruled that they could
not take on the minister but that they would give her "the 50
questions" for which she must respond to in writing.
Trouble, however, started when the minister insisted that she
should be allowed to respond to the questions, saying "since
I'm here now, I want to respond to the questions in person."
The chairman insisted that he had ruled and there was no
going back on the matter, insisting that the minister should
provide written answers within two weeks and appear before
the committee in January but the minister was still adamant,
asking them to hear her out.
When the situation became tensed, Honourable Jibrin walked
out Okonjo-Iweala, saying "you know I have ruled and if you
don't mind, please excuse us. Members should stay behind for
executive meeting. We don't want any haphazard answers, so
you can go honourable minister."
Okonjo-Iweala, who was not happy with the situation, said "I
have uttermost respect for the committee and expect same
from you. I'm a minister of the Federal Republic. When you
invite ministers, you should treat them with respect. We can't
be invited and be abused."
Via: CKN Nigeria
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