How Sanusi's Letter To Jonathan Was Leaked-Amaechi

The Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has on

Thursday disclosed his involvement in the 'leaked' secret letter written

by former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Sanusi Lamido

Sanusi to former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Recall that Sanusi had earlier reveled an interview with Forbes Africa

Magazine, that Amaechi was responsible for leaking to Obasanjo a letter he

wrote to Jonathan on the “missing” $49.8 billion oil revenues.

Amaechi who reacted in a statement signed by his media office emphasized

that the role he played on the issue was in the best interest of the

nation and Nigerians.
Read the statement in full,”Our attention has been drawn to reports in the

media that tends to infer and/or suggest that immediate past governor of

Rivers State and now Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi

Amaechi surreptitiously and clandestinely 'leaked' a letter written by

former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor and now Emir of Kano, Sanusi

Muhammad 11 to then President Goodluck Jonathan on the non-remittance of

$49.8 billion from oil sale to the federation account. This is further

from the truth and what exactly transpired as regards Amaechi's

involvement in that Sanusi letter.
To put the records straight, we want to categorically state that: A

concerned and patriotic Nigerian who felt sufficiently troubled with what

was happening then, gave a copy of the Sanusi letter to Amaechi in

Amaechi's capacity as the chairman of the Nigerian Governors' Forum (NGF).

Like Amaechi, we should appreciate that concerned Nigerian's patriotism.

“When Amaechi got the letter, he spoke with Sanusi who was still the CBN

governor to confirm the authenticity of the letter. Sanusi confirmed to

Amaechi that he wrote the letter. During their conversation, Amaechi made

it abundantly clear to the then CBN governor that the bleeding of the

nation had to be stopped, all non-remitted funds remitted and that he

(Amaechi) was going to use the letter to do whatever is in the best

interest of the nation and Nigerians, which was the stoppage of the

non-remittance and the recovery of all the non-remitted funds from oil

sale. The CBN Governor didn't agree with Amaechi on the way

forward.Considering that the letter was given to Amaechi as Chairman of

the Governors' Forum, he shared the letter with his colleague governors

first, and with Senator Bukola Saraki (now Senate President), who before

and around that period was doing some work or/and investigation around the

oil sector in the senate.”
Around that period, a delegation from the United States of America

government, from the offices of the Secretaries of State and Defense

visited Amaechi in Port Harcourt to discuss the issue of oil theft in

Nigeria. From their records, they gave Amaechi figures of billions of

dollars (about $7 billion dollars, annually) that was being lost to oil

theft in Nigeria.They were discussing the issue and figures of oil theft,

and that was how the CBN governor's letter to President Jonathan came up.

In the presence of journalists covering the visit, Amaechi brought out the

Sanusi letter to the visiting American delegation to buttress the point

that Nigeria was losing far more money to non-remittance of proceeds from

oil sale into the federation account, which everyone seemed to concur, was

in itself, another form and another dimension to the issue of oil theft.

“To suggest, infer or even extrapolate that Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi

Amaechi surreptitiously, clandestinely or underhandedly 'leaked' the CBN

governor's (Sanusi's) letter is indeed most unfair, disrespectful and

uncharitable to his person. Amaechi did what he did because he believed

that the theft and corruption was just too much. He was propelled by his

patriotic zeal to put Nigeria first, do what is in the best interest of

the nation and Nigerians, and stop the bleeding and sucking of our

collective resources by a tiny few.
“The mind boggling corruption revelations in the recent past, that is

still ongoing clearly justifies and vindicates Amaechi's stance on the

issue and the actions he took. Faced with the same situation, under

similar circumstances, Amaechi will not act differently. The good of

Nigeria, putting the nation and Nigerians first, will always be his

guiding principle.”
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