President Goodluck Jonathan’s ‘suspension’, this morning, of the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Sanusi Lamido Sanusi came to the nation as a shock, or maybe, surprise. In the statement released to the media, the president’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Reuben Abati, said the CBN governor was accused of sitting atop far reaching irregularities as the head of Nigeria’s apex bank.
More weighty still, the government accused Mr Sanusi of various acts of financial recklessness and misconduct. Of interest is the government’s opening line, that the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria and other investigating bodies had investigated the CBN governor and indicated the above. This is a grave indictment. It is somewhat curious that nobody heard of these investigations, but it doesn’t in any way erode their significance if they indeed did happen. After all, the government has the right to secretly investigate people. Most people will want to see that the immediate prosecution of Mr Sanusi begins. There he can prove his guilt and confirm his innocence.
This latest move crystalizes the President’s anger against controversial Sanusi who, first, wrote him a letter on certain $49.8 billion oil revenue which the NNPC allegedly did not remit to the Federation Account, later capitulated when he, during a reconciliation meeting with the Finance Minister, Petroleum Minister and the Group Managing Director of NNPC, agreed that the missing money was no longer $49.8 billion, but $10.8 billion.
On February 4, during a Senate Hearing on un-remitted oil revenue, Sanusi blew the lid open on NNPC’s claim that it had been paying subsidy on kerosene, contrary to a standing presidential fiat during the Yar’Adua years that removed subsidy on kerosene. The same day, Sanusi revealed that there was another $20 billion unremitted into the Federation Account between January 2012 and July 2013, which NNPC had yet to account for. Sanusi’s latest revelation has opened up another chapter in NNPC’s book of opacity in financial operations.
The issues have remained in the front burner of public discourse in the last two weeks. Okonjo Iweala, Nigeria’s Finance Minister who also doubles as the Coordinating Minister of the economy, had suggested before Senate Committee on Finance that forensic audit be carried out on the books of NNPC to ascertain if money was missing and the exact amount involved determined. But her former colleague at both former President Obasanjo’s regime and the World Bank, Oby Ezekwesili, citing the possibility of compromise, would rather a panel of experts, with members from Civil Society Organisations in tow, examine the books to ascertain the exact missing figures. The debate is still on.
Reportedly irate with the CBN governor, President Goodluck Jonathan had called him on phone early last month and mandated him to proceed on his terminal leave which was due to commence in March, less than two weeks from today. Jonathan accused Sanusi of leaking the letter he wrote him about the missing $49.8b to former President Olusegun Obasanjo – who in a widely circulated open letter accused the president of trying to destroy Nigeria among other charges – had cited Sanusi’s letter which, by that time, was not yet in public domain. Sanusi reportedly rebuffed the president, reminding him that constitutionally, the CBN governor can only be sacked by a resolution of the legislature.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Act 2007 is silent on the suspension of a CBN Governor, but it gives the president in Section 11, sub-section 2 f, the power to remove the bank’s governor ‘provided that the removal … shall be supported by two-thirds majority of the Senate praying that he be so removed.’
It is yet to be known what Mr Sanusi’s reaction to this development will be. Should he proceed to the courts, a nation in surprise will be angling to hear the interpretations of the learned men of the bench to the founding document upon which Nigeria’s apex bank stands.
While Sanusi is forced out today, the Senate is to commence hearing on the Kerosene subsidy through which millions of Nigerians have been ripped off by an organized subsidy syndicate.
Ultimately, the centre of discourse in all of this is the management of Nigeria’s wealth. And no solution, including clash of egos of the various managers of these resources should be allowed to shift the people’s attention from the crux of the matter. Will the government prosecute Sanusi for ‘financial misconducts’ during his reign as the CBN governor? Will the government pursue the latest discovery that we spent humongous sums to subsidize a product not officially recognized for subsidy? Will the government look the other way while the nation’s resources get frittered away by those hired to mange them?
The conversation continues.
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