SUSPENSION AND THE CBN

Suspension or removal is not the issue. Good faith is what we should address our minds to. Is the President acting in good faith in removing the CBN governor and is he leaving the procedure for removal open to abuse? Idi Amin Dada of Uganda exercised his absolute power and was the last President to sack his CBN governor. He is a poor act to follow.

 The CBN Act that protects the job of the governor did not set out to protect Sanusi the person, but to protect the CBN governor from undue political interference and by extension, protect the economy of Nigeria, from the whims and caprices of any political party or head of state. 

Whilst the President has every right to exercise his powers, he should be cautious in not dismantling the structures that allow societies to prosper. Affairs of state can be very delicate and we should tread with caution as even the PDP could be on the receiving end tomorrow when inevitably they find themselves in opposition. Cross carpeting is proof of this. Such situations are simply not good for Nigeria. Circumventing the law by using the word “suspension” is a very poor disguise and it insults our intelligence to say, “Sanusi is still the CBN governor, and he can return if exonerated from any wrongdoing.” Haba, we should be shown some respect. It must have escaped Mr President’s mind that he has already nominated Sanusi’s replacement. It is de facto a removal.

The job of any central bank governor is tied to the economy. Recently, when Ben Bernanke was stepping down as chairman of US Federal Reserve, the markets responded sharply. The post is that sensitive. Shortly after Sanusi’s suspension was announced, the Nigeria Stock Exchange responded; stocks plunged and the Naira took a record dive. No investor wants to put his or her money where the key money manager can be removed from office at a whim. We crave foreign direct investment yet our actions clearly repel it.

The presidential spokesman, Reuben Abati, has suggested that there is compelling evidence against Sanusi that could be used to send him to jail. I take it he is referring to the purported infractions revealed in the report of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria. The president stated during his media chat that the CBN’s account has been audited for 2012 and 2013. It is curious because they have only been able to accuse Sanusi precisely because he has audited accounts!

NNPC nko? Their accounts have not been audited for 8 years! This is a cooperation on whose head several allegations of corruption are dangling, including those of the Financial Times, Human Rights Watch, Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), KPMG, Transparency International, as well as the various committees and task forces set up to investigate fuel subsidy payments. Their accounts have not been audited and yet all this rot. We cannot even begin to imagine what is going on in there and nobody has been sanctioned. Sanusi is being persecuted for crying foul. The only pity is that he did not resign before he was suspended.  

They say that Sanusi is playing politics but is Nigeria not a single resource economy? Surely that must guarantee a strong relationship between our petrodollars and the CBN. There must be controls. If oil money goes unaccounted for, it is the job of the CBN to caution and advise the president accordingly. That is the principal job of the CBN governor. He should be getting thanks.

So if truly the NNPC spent billions of dollars on kerosene subsidy without records, who authorised such spending? Subsidised kerosene should sell for N50/litre, but Nigerians pay N200 for the product when it is available. Besides, where does the NNPC derive its power to spend on behalf of the government outside the federation account? In 2012, it was revealed that the corporation was operating a secret JP Morgan account. When did the NNPC become federal government’s banker? These are some of the grave lapses that the CBN governor exposed.  Our primary source of wealth is being handled in such a clandestine, reckless and fraudulent manner and yet no remedy and we remain silent.

We should all applaud Sanusi. Instead, he is being treated as a criminal, with his passport seized for pointing out a clear and present danger. His reward is that the machinery of government is being used to destroy and soil his name.  Allowing this to happen and not standing by him exposes us all, whether or not we find him arrogant. The long queues at the petrol stations are back, evidence perhaps of our missing $20 Billon. If ever there was an opportunity where we should make our feelings known, it is now.