The recently suspended Central Bank Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi landed yesterday in Lagos, received by his family and friend former Minister of the FCT, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai.
Yesterday during an interview with Sahara Reports confirmed that he will challenge his suspension in court.
“I will challenge my suspension in court not because I want to go back, but because the whole idea of protecting the Governor of the Central Bank is to preserve the independence of the institution and if this is allowed to hold then Presidents know that if the Central Bank Governor does what you don’t like all you have to do is write a letter and suspend him on any type of charge.”
“I know there are people that will argue under the interpretation act that the power to appoint means the power to remove or suspend but to the extent that the president does not appoint, the president appoints but it is subject to confirmation by the Senate. The law is clear that the removal of the Governor requires two third of the Senate, suspension is removal, it could be temporary but it is removal”
He also said he and the Central bank he has been in charge of since 2009 has been audited every year since resumption, whilst the NNPC has not been audited since 2005, and no one talks about financial recklessness in NNPC.
“A week ago the Ministry of Petroleum and the NNPC came together and agreed that they have spent $3.5 billion on kerosene subsidy without appropriation even in the presence of a presidential directive, no one has called that financial recklessness”
“Since I became governor of Central Governor, I have increased operating surplus, for example; the year before I became the Governor in 2008, the Central Bank contributed N8billion to the Federal budget, by 2012 I contributed N80billion.”
“This year I am contributing N159billion from 2013, that is 20 times what was being contributed when I became Governor”