BASHORUN J.K.RANDLE  in this concluding part of the discourse argues that the economy was doing well.

THE entire hall was overcast with gloom until our Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy doused the tension: She vigorously denied that she ever said that the Nigerian economy will shut down by September if the National Assembly failed to pass President Goodluck Jonathan’s amendment proposals to the 2013 budget.

She insisted that the economy is strong, robust, and that despite what she called “short time challenges”, due to oil theft, the government was focused on resolving the problem and soon the several pipelines that have been shut will  be restored to their full capacity.

The finance minister insisted that she had warned that the government will not be able to pay salaries if the appropriation was not passed, insisting that it was a fact, urging that time should not be wasted on discussing “misleading headlines”.  She also denied the allegation that she was working to pit the National Assembly against the executive arm of government.

The National Assembly had on Tuesday accused Okonjo-Iweala of deepening the row between the executive and the legislature over the 2013 budget amendment proposals.

The House of Representatives had summoned her to appear before its joint committees on appropriation/finance and legislative compliance on Tuesday, next week, to “throw light on her utterances.”

The Senate spokesman, Enyinnaya Abaribe, said they did not take Okonjo-Iweala’s comments kindly. According to him, the National Assembly found the statement by the minister that the government would shut down if the budget amendment proposals were not considered unacceptable.

He noted that because of the volume of the proposals sent by the president, more time to study them and make a good judgment was required. Abaribe said, “We find it not to our liking when a comment is made that tends to say that government will shut down if the National Assembly doesn’t do anything.  We do not agree with that”.

Okonjo-Iweala said, “At no point in time did I say that the government is going to shut down or the country will shut down.

The economy is strong, it is robust, we have our short term challenges, as you know we are dealing with reduced revenue due to the issue of oil theft which Mr President is focusing on and is solving.  There is a committee of governors that he and the vice president have set up to try and deal with this issue.

We are confident that we will be dealing with it and bringing several pipelines that have shut down back into play when we work with oil companies.  What I did say is that we will not be able to pay salaries and that is a very different situation from, we are talking about.

So this was a very misleading headline from a newspaper and we should not spend the time of the National Assembly to debate on non-issues.  At no time did I say the country is going to shut down. I said we will not be able to pay salaries and that remains a fact.

Cordial working relationships

“It is absolutely untrue, we are not pitching anyone against anyone, we have been working with Senators and House of Representatives members in a very cordial manner. We are working with them.

This headline was put out mischievously, but that was not the correct or appropriate headline. We are working with them because we do have to solve the problems that will enable us to move forward and it is being done in a collegial manner.  So this is why the media has to be careful about the type of headlines they put on.”

During the lunch break that followed, we headed for the Bay Tree Hotel in Burford, which nestles in the centre of the Cotswold – ever resplendent in its glory in utter defiance of the epigram by the Frenchman, Serge Gainsbourg: “Ugliness is superior to beauty because it lasts longer.”

“No” is no in both English and French – beauty and serenity are superior to ugliness and turmoil.

Bashorun J.K. Randle is Chairman & Chief Executive JK Randle Professional Services Chartered Accountants “X KPMG HOUSE”One King Ologunkutere Street Park View Ikoyi