A stunning story has emerged from former finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who revealed how a major investigation once put her family in danger.
She shared these details during an interview with Bloomberg’s Francine Lacqua; her account centers on a massive fuel subsidy fraud uncovered years ago.
This Okonjo-Iweala fuel subsidy fraud case began with suspicious spending patterns, she noticed unusual increases in payments made under Nigeria’s fuel subsidy program.
At the time, Nigeria relied heavily on imported refined petroleum; despite being an oil-producing nation, it couldn’t refine all the fuel it needed locally.
Importers received government subsidies to sell fuel at lower prices. However, the claims being made started rising at an alarming rate.
She explained her next move clearly during the interview. “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 said.
This Okonjo-Iweala fuel subsidy fraud discovery came with serious consequences, refusing to approve the payments triggered threats against her personally.
The situation escalated quickly after that decision; her own mother was eventually kidnapped as retaliation for the audit.
She recalled the demands made by the kidnappers directly, they wanted her to resign and leave Nigeria in exchange for her mother’s safety.
Okonjo-Iweala described the experience as deeply painful to revisit.
“That then led to threats to me, and then my mother got kidnapped. I was told that for her to be released, I should resign and leave the country. Of course, it was a terrible, terrible five-day ordeal. I think the worst in my life,” she said.
She reflected on the emotional weight of that period. “You know, when you feel that what you’re doing might lead to the death of your own parent, that is not a situation that anyone ever wants to be in,” she said.
Her mother eventually managed to escape during captivity. “She was held in the middle of a forest and one night she escaped. She’s still alive. She’s 96 now,” she said.
Okonjo-Iweala admitted the memory still affects her deeply today, she made clear what mattered most to her during that crisis.
“Having my mother alive and staying in a job, I will pick my mother any day,” she said.
