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World Trade Organisation (WTO) Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has revealed how uncovering an alleged $2.4 billion fuel subsidy fraud during her tenure as Nigeria’s finance minister sparked death threats and led to the kidnapping of her mother.
Speaking during an interview on Bloomberg’s Leaders programme, Okonjo-Iweala explained that her office initiated an audit after fuel importer claims skyrocketed suspiciously.
Upon uncovering widespread irregularities in the subsidy system, Okonjo-Iweala halted payments with presidential backing.
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“So I went to the president and said, ‘Look, something is going on here.’ ” Could we audit the accounts? And he said, yes, go ahead. And we found about $2.4 billion worth of fraud. So we refused to pay,” she stated.
The refusal triggered immediate retaliation from perpetrators, culminating in the December 2012 abduction of her mother, Kamene Okonjo, from her home in Ogwashi-Uku, Delta State.
The kidnappers demanded Okonjo-Iweala’s immediate resignation and departure from Nigeria in exchange for her mother’s release.
“I was told that for her to be released, I should resign and leave the country,” she recalled, describing the five-day captivity as “a terrible, terrible five-day ordeal. I think the worst in my life.”
Her father urged her not to yield to blackmail, telling her, “You’ve got to carry on. You’ve got to go to work.”
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Her mother eventually escaped from a forest camp at night and survived the ordeal.
Reflecting on the experience and its impact on her governance philosophy, Okonjo-Iweala emphasised the critical need to confront financial corruption in developing nations.
“I feel that this is a real fight that has to be waged. If you are a country that is not that rich, every single penny counts,” she affirmed.
