GOVERNOR of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mallam Lamido Sanusi, appeared to have come under close watch of the authorities, following reports of infractions on the regulations guarding the operations of the apex bank.
Just last week, the Executive Secretary of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN), Mr Jim Obazee, was invited to the Presidential Villa, Abuja, to shed more light on the issues at the CBN.
It was also gathered that authorities were uncomfortable with huge donations being made to certain institutions by the CBN governor without recourse to due processes.
Sources also said that the administration was worried about what was called “unprecedented politicisation of the office of CBN governor.”
“One major issue which presidency sources say is of concern to authorities is the way and manner Mallam Sanusi makes donations to communities and institutions in the name of the apex bank without adherence to due processes and regard for the multi-cultural diversities of the Nigerian nation,” a source said.
For instance, sources pointed out that the CBN governor recently made donations in excess of N15 billion to some institutions and interest groups in states controlled by opposition political parties.
Some forces in the administration were interpreting this as a deliberate means of channeling funds to some politicians who would, in turn, use such funds to attack the president and government.
Some of the donations mentioned as suspicious included the sum of N4 billion given to Bayero University Kano; N10 billion given to Uthman Dan Fodio University, Sokoto; N500 million to the University of Benin; N100 million donation in Kano and a few other such donations.
Sources considered these as ultra-vires and far beyond the functions of the apex bank.
“The CBN governor is being seen in many circles as becoming more of a politician than a banker. He delights in in company with opposition political figures; making statements unbecoming of his office,” a source said.
Another source said “I think the president is mindful of the fact that there is the need to protect the stability in the growth rate the nation has recorded right now and not to create the impression that there is crisis in the financial sector.”
According to the source, the reference to security of tenure of the CBN governor was a ruse, because “there is no law that can prevent the president from exercising disciplinary powers over any appointee or official of government.”
Another source said “the president has been very tolerant of these infractions, in line with his personal convictions in allowing institutions operate their own independent checks on officers, but it appears the CBN governor is becoming a law to himself.”
It was further gathered that the allegation of missing oil money by the CBN governor had been viewed as a deliberate ploy by him to portray the Federal Government in a bad light, in line with a larger plan by the opposition to discredit the government, ahead the 2015 general election.
“That Sanusi later described the allegation as an ‘error’ sent wrong signals to the international business community about the Nigerian economy and wouldn’t have been treated lightly in other climes.
Do an analysis of the CBN governors speeches at a birthday colloquium of a notable opposition political leader in the South West last year, as well as what he said at the book launch of the spokesman of the main opposition party in Abuja and that will show the mindset of a man who is supposed to be the chief monetary adviser of the Federal Government,” the source added.
Reacting, Director of Corporate Communications of the bank, Ugochukwu Okoroafor, told the Nigerian Tribune that all the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) interventions of the bank followed due process and were duly approved by its board.
He added that the interventions were not meant to finance any opposition figures or structures in any way, but to support worthy causes that would enhance economic growth and development in line with CBN’s mandate.
On the alleged romance of Sanusi with opposition figures and holding nocturnal meetings with them, Okoroafor noted that a public servant like the CBN boss was bound to meet a lot of people of all political persuasion in the course of his national and international engagements, adding that it would be erroneous to read meanings into such meetings.
He challenged those with evidence to authenticate the allegations to come out with them, if any, adding that CBN was committed to its mandate in line with CBN Act “and this, the bank has achieved 100 per cent as of now.”
Source: Tribune
