President hammers questions about oil fund spending as "distraction"

In an early morning live broadcast on Facebook from his State House residence, President Irfaan Ali fired back at the politicians and other persons who have been raising questions about the Government’s handling of the Natural Resource Fund, and the large spending of the country’s oil revenues.

In recent weeks, the opposition and other groups have been expressing concerns over the “unchecked” spending of the country’s oil resources and handling of the Natural Resource Fund.

The Opposition’s nominated member of the Investment Committee of the Natural Resource Fund, businessman Terrence Campbell, has raised questions of his own, pointing out that his queries have always been blanked.

This morning, the President said the criticism appears to be aimed at discrediting the Government.

“The egotistical arrogance and willful ignorance must be exposed, I call it a convenience of conscience—these guys and these characters, demonstrate a convenience of conscience that is mind boggling, the called themselves the virtuous ones of accountability and upholder of democracy, but the convenience of conscience cannot be ignored and we must expose these persons and characters,” the President noted.

According to the President, his Government has brought transparency to the Natural Resource Fund, with the passage of the Natural Resource Fund Act. He said the Act is progressive and is better than the one that was left behind by the last Government.

“The new Act of 2021 that we passed, simply a formula setting a ceiling of the transfer from the NRF not a secret account but the consolidated fund, it establishes a simplified formula, it establish a ceiling and it establish that the money must be transferred to the consolidated fund. Further, it goes on to say, instead of the Act that they illigimately passed, where none of us would have known what the revenues are, the new Act of the People’s Progressive Party Civic government, ensured that all receipts be published in the official gazette,” the President stated.

In explaining how the country’s oil monies are being spent, the President said when a transfer is made into the Consolidated fund, it is incorporated into the National Budget and is spent in the various social sectors.

While shying away from offering specifics on the spending, the President said the spending is approved by the National Assembly, where his Government enjoys a one-seat majority.

“After all of that, after the Parliamentary approval by everyone in Parliament, it still must get the scrutiny from the auditor general, the expenditure, then of course, the examination from the Public Accounts Committee, none of this existed in the illegitimate act,” the President said.

The President sees the comments by persons and organizations over the NRF Act and the spending of oil funds as a distraction from the progress his government has been making.