Politics
Lamido Sanusi says he has no problem with investigations
Sanusi Lamido Sanusi has said that he has no problem with investigations that are done by the right institutions. The former Central Bank goveror stated, “These are matters of principle. If there is in fact an infraction of the law, there are agencies that are empowered to investigate that. Why is the government not using the institutions that are legally supposed to investigate these allegations and why is it using a body that does not have the statutory power.”
He added, “I have no problems with investigation and these allegations, I know, have been looked at by the FCC. There are so many agencies that are looking at these things, I don’t have a problem with the agencies that are supposed to look at them.” The Nigerian High Court had dismissed Sanusi’s challenge over his dismissal by President Goodluck Jonathan after he had filed a law suit challenging Jonathan’s power in suspending him from office.
Sanusi went on to explain, “We always knew there was a chance. When you go to court you always look at the possibility of the judge looking at a number of arguments. Obviously we do not agree. We feel the way we presented the matter is not a matter of employer-employee but rather it was purely a matter of legal interpretation.”
Furthermore, he added, “What we were seeking was the court’s ruling on whether the president did have the power under the CBN act to suspend the governor. I imagine the judge understood that but he also felt that if he ruled on that and said it was illegal, then there were employment implications in terms of my having to go back to my position and therefore he thought that was an employment matter.”
He then added that the full ruling had not yet been read and that he would have to wait for the full ruling to see if it should go to the NIC, if it should be appealed or if he should look at other options. Sanusi also stressed the fact that the central bank is audited by PwC and Ernst & Young every year and reiterated that there is nothing wrong with the bank’s accounts.
Sanusi went on to say, “We never spent 163 billion. People just threw around numbers. That 163 billion was the total value of contracts awarded, it’s not money spent. If you start from January 2009, that’s when I became governor, the total value of contracts awarded by the central bank was about 200 billion. Out of that money, only 56 billion naira was dispersed so it’s just a lie.”
He then continued, “Everything the central bank has done has been in line with the law. I have always said that if the Central Bank of Nigeria has done anything in breach of the law, I as chief executive take full personal responsibility. I can assure that I have full confidence in my staff, the processes and systems in the central bank and nothing has gone wrong.”
