The drama surrounding the mysterious disappearance of $20 billion is beginning to take shape gradually. A new report has emerged that put the Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, in the spotlight.
Proshare has reacted to Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala's recent revelation that Nigeria has lost a copious amount of money to Ministries granting tax holidays to several companies in the country.
Proshare condemned Okonjo-Iweala's "hollow rant", saying she had in the know for a long time and did nothing to stop it.
"For one, a neophyte to the economic structure of Nigeria understands that winners and losers have always been determined through the ‘use and application’ of such instruments of fiscal policy and alignment over the decades," Proshare wrote.
"Such instruments, well intentioned to reward entrepreneurship, risk taking and adjustment of wealth creation/distribution has been misused via some routes which includes tax holidays; pioneer tax status; general duty waivers; export duty grants/credits; autonomy for MDA’s; and joint venture schemes, to mention a few.
"That the Coordinating Minister of the Economy will feign ignorance or surprise that this instruments of fiscal management of the economy has become a tool for political and personal patronage must be the main story, the sub-story being that she finally admitted a fact well known to the Nigerian people about what was wrong in our policy execution – its not the policies that are wrong headed, it is those in charge of managing it that act in manners that reflect how the president/presidency manages the sovereign," it added.