REPORT: Okonjo-Iweala’s Recent Appointment Comes Under Intense Scrutiny

On Monday, September 21, Nigeria’s former minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was appointed the chair-elect of the board of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, founded by Bill and Melinda Gates.

Okonjo-Iweala and Bill Gates at a World Economic Forum event

Barely 48 hours after her appointment was announced, Premium Times has released a report claiming that the former minister’s appointment was a reward for her payment to the Geneva-based organization, amounting to $2..2 million, being a refund for funds allegedly mismanaged by health officials in Nigeria.

READ ALSO: 5 Appointees Of GEJ Who Got World Class Appointments After Leaving Government

According to the report, last year, GAVI made an allegation accusing Nigerian health ministry officials of mismanaging cash grants meant for the country’s health sector and  National Primary Health Care Development Agency between 2011 and 2013.

But the allegations were rebuffed by the Nigerian health officials, who accusing GAVI of distorting facts to give credibility to their story and deliberately ignoring their narrative on how they disbursed the funds.

The report also gave details about a cash programme audit carried out by GAVI in October 2014, where a breakdown of the organisation’s disbursed funds to Nigeria was released.

The audit covered a four-year period between 2008 and 2011 where the findings  revealed that about US$300,000 unsubstantiated expenditures relating to the Immunization System Support programmes from 2009 to 2011 where mismanaged.

Of the total expenditure ($29 million) stated in the period reviewd, 32 percent ($9 million) was examined in the audit of which 87 percent ($8.1 million) was found to be questionable.

Sahara Reporters were the first to raise the issue yesterday through their Twitter page. But the allegation was quickly denied by Okonjo-Iweala’s spokesman, Paul Nwabiukwu.

READ ALSO: What Is Really Going On Between Obasanjo And Okonjo-Iweala

See the tweet below:

1.FLASH: @NOIweala got positions from int. entities with whom Nigeria did business under her watch. Paid GAVI $2.2m shortly before she left

— Sahara Reporters (@SaharaReporters) September 22, 2015

Read more details on Premium Times

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