Minister of Information, Mallam Labaran Maku, on Tuesday said the description of the suspended Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Mallam Sanusi Lamido, as a whistle blower by some people, was wrong.
Maku, who argued that Sanusi’s description as a whistle blower was a perception being fed by negative reports from the media, maintained that President Goodluck Jonathan was in order with his suspension.
The nation’s image maker stated this after he defended his ministry’s 2014 budget at the Senate.
But the senator representing Nasarawa West, who was also a two-term governor of the state, Abdullahi Adamu, on Tuesday insisted that the suspension of the CBN governor was wrong, illegal and unconstitutional, and that the President knew that.
However, Maku insisted that nobody assigned the whistle blowing role to Sanusi, as he was not supposed to be heard as the head of the nation’s apex bank.
He said, “I have not heard in any nation, where the central bank governor is a whistle blower. He is the manager of the nation’s monetary policies as an adviser to the President of Nigeria on those issues.
“So, the fact that he has moved from being the CBN governor to whistle blowing is a problem in itself.But the reality of what has happened is that there are issues with the account of CBN of 2012, as the President explained.
“The Financial Reporting Council has said that there are issues that should be addressed to the President, returned it to the council and the council again returned it with some of the items with questions.
“As for the NNPC, don’t forget that a forensic audit of the NNPC has been ordered. Remember Sanusi said $49.8bn was missing, how much do we earn? That means there was a free fall. But the story changed to $20bn, $10.8bn. So, nobody knows.
“People just make allegations and turn the country into one huge investigation panel. Everyday, the National Assembly is investigating.
“The role of the CBN governor is that of a quiet role. You don’t even hear him talk. If he makes any statement, it affects the capital market and the entire economy. The President never queried Sanusi for accusing the NNPC. Running the economy is team work between the NNPC, ministry of finance and all other national institutions.”
The minister described the CBN as the nerve centre of the nation’s financial system. If there were problems with it, it means that it can generate a lot of problems in the banking system and the economy. Hence, the President had been trying to sort this out with the CBN governor.
But Abdulahi, who spoke with journalists in his office, said neither the nation’s constitution nor the CBN Act gave Jonathan powers to suspend Sanusi.
He said, “I watched the Presidential media chat and I saw the President speaking from the two sides of his mouth. Who gave him the absolute power to suspend Sanusi? Where is it in the Constitution? Which section of the Constitution? Is it an enabling act? He can only nominate and bring to us in the National Assembly to confirm.”
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