24th February, 2014
The hasty suspension of Lamido Sanusi as governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, and the controversies it elicited have attracted the curiosity of well-meaning Nigerians. While the action has further put the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan and his disposition to due process under severe scrutiny and doubt, the aftermath has shown that the presidency has many more questions to answer.
The President suspended Sanusi as CBN governor on Thursday, 20 February and appointed CBN’s Deputy Director of Operations, Sarah Alade, as the acting governor. According to the President’s spokesman, Sanusi’s suspension was attributed to the special notice of reports of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria, FRCN, and other investigating bodies, which indicted Sanusi for various acts of financial recklessness and misconduct which are inconsistent with the administration’s vision of a Central Bank propelled by the core values of focused economic management, prudence, transparency and financial discipline.
Though the presidency harped on its deep concern about the far-reaching irregularities under Mallam Sanusi’s watch which it claimed have distracted the Central Bank from the pursuit and achievement of its statutory mandate, many Nigerians view the action as diversionary and as a way to hit back at Sanusi for exposing the missing $20 billion kerosene subsidy funds.
Many questions are raised as to the legality of the President’s action. Nigerians are wondering why the President would hastily suspend Sanusi and forwarded the name of a new CBN governor to the Senate a few hours after his suspension when there is a pending investigation?
Was the suspension a deliberate attempt to truncate the ongoing investigation and reconciliation of accounts of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, which is at the centre of the missing funds? Or was Sanusi’s sack a diversionary ploy to stop further revelations about the missing oil money which has already shown the recklessness and lack of accountability on the part of NNPC and other agencies involved?
Sanusi’s sack is perceived to be ill-timed. He is to retire by June this year, so to have sacked him few months to his retirement sends negative signals to investors. Already, events following his suspension are reverberating negatively in the nation’s economy, causing instability in the system. It was reported that the stock market lost over N500 billion days after the incident.
Section 8(1) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act 2007 provides that the Governor and Deputy Governors “shall be appointed by the President subject to confirmation by the Senate”. In the same way, there is a proviso in Section 11 (2) of the CBN Act which states that the removal of the Governor, Deputy Governor and Director of the CBN by the President is subject to being supported by two-thirds majority of the Senate. But the suspension of Sanusi by the President has contravened this provision and further makes the action questionable.
Many Nigerians might dislike Sanusi’s style, pragmatic approach to issues and some of his policies, but the illegal manner the CBN governor was removed is questionable and clearly violates the CBN Act. The National Assembly must address this issue squarely to prevent a dangerous prcedent from being set and to protect the autonomy of the CBN.