Another deposition in the Sanusi clan
History has an uncanny way of repeating itself, at times, in a bitter way.
How else can anyone explain what has befallen Sanusi Lamido Sanusi in the hands of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, who has remained unassuming, even though he knows he can wield the enormous powers of his office to whip recalcitrant subordinates into line? Sanusi's forebear was deposed and, unfortunately, the misfortune that was not reversed has happened to him.
Without wasting time, I will advise the Sanusi clan to seek divine intervention to remove this curse.
And someone should advise Sanusi himself to keep his mouth shut rather than resort to his favourite pastime of talking nineteen to the dozen.
Already he is saying he will seek legal interpretations to what has happened.
Why say it? Is it to save face? Why not just do it, and remain in the shadows? Going by what was revealed by the presidency, it is obvious that Sanusi was on the rev with his tongue because of the underlying transactions of queries with the Financial Reporting Council (FRC).
As suspected by the circumcised, he was putting on the cloak of an activist because he knew what was about to befall him.
The saddest part of the drama appears to be that all the rash of media men on the Finance and Economy beats from reporters to editors appeared to have turned a blind eye because of the activities of a media consultant that handled the ugly affairs that have now come to a head.
Can they swear that none of them was aware of the queries and responses that flew between the FRC and CBN? It is a sad statement for the Fourth Estate of the realm that they all suddenly became blind.
May be the ex-CBN Governor should consider joining the APC and pursue a political career because the party that goaded him on will surely have a place for him to contest.
But now that the presidency has wielded the hammer, the time is now to declassify all the facts that have been hidden so far.
Perhaps with the presidency known for its conspiratorial silence from time to time, it may be necessary to head the way of the National Assembly, where disgruntled elements are not afraid to make hidden matters known.
A motion on notice there reveals a lot about the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), CBN, and the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), but the motion appears intended to show that what CBN was complaining about regarding the NNPC, it was also terribly guilty of.
Intended to ensure the mobilization of Non-Oil, and Generating Oil Dependent Revenue into the Federal Treasury Through Fiscal Responsibility by Adherence to Statutory Mandate and Due Process in the Conduct of Public Procurement, the motion sponsored by Senator Ita Enang, contains the sins of the now suspended CBN helmsman.
Noting that the 1999 Constitution provides in Section 80 (1) that all revenues or other moneys raised or received by the Federation be paid into and form one Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation, the sponsor added that the Fiscal Responsibility Act in Section 21 provided that all government agencies and corporations should prepare and submit to the Minister of Finance their Scheduled estimates of revenue and expenditure for the next three financial years.
The minister is in turn required to compile and submit these along with the Appropriation Bill to the National Assembly; The motion also relied on the Financial Responsibility Act which insists that corporations, like CBN, pay their operating surplus into the Federal Treasury, it appears that rather than do what the law requires, the CBN, NNPC and NIMASA, among others, breached the law and proceeded on a spending spree and breaking procurement laws of the government.
The CBN, under the law setting it up like other Central Banks of other countries, is mandated primarily to ensure monetary and price stability; issue legal tender currency in Nigeria; maintain external reserves to safeguard the international value of the legal tender currency; promote a sound financial system in Nigeria; and act as banker and provide economic and financial advice to the Federal Government.
But rather than concentrate on these primary functions, it appears the bank, especially under Sanusi, began to act as if it was a state with a geographical entity, and began awarding contracts without following due process.
The secondary functions took on a more than expected life of their own as the bank's chief executives used the balance of the operating surplus that should be paid to the Federal Government half-yearly, for a bonanza of contracts and procurements, like a father Christmas.
The projects and their costs, of which less than four passed the public procurement rules, include: Construction of Centres of Excellence, University of Jos, Plateau State awarded on March 2, 2012 at N9,561,802,952.
16; Development of Centres of Excellence, University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State awarded on the same day at the cost of N10,242,910,904.
62; Construction of Centres of Excellence, University of Lagos awarded December 19, 2012 at N14,844,775,453.
50; Intervention Project at Edo State University, Ekpoma and Intervention Project at Navy Finance and Logistic School, Owerrinta, Abia awarded December 12, 2013 both at a cost of N1,000,000,000.
00 apiece; and Construction of Centres of Excellence, University of Ibadan, Ibadan Campus awarded November 13, 2010 at N6,869,400,510.
24.
They also included: Intervention Project at Gombe State University, Gombe awarded December 12, 2013 at N1,000,000,000.
00; Development of Centres of Excellence, Bayero University, Kano awarded March 2, 2012 at N9,235,556,046.
40; Intervention Project at UsmanDanfodio University, Sokoto awarded December 12, 2013 at 10,000,000,000.
00; Construction of Center of Excellence, University of Maiduguri, Borno awarded March 7, 2013 at 12,976,286,217.
50; Construction of Centres of Excellence, Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna awarded December 19, 2012; and Development and Operation of Hotels and Sundry Commercial Facilities for the Proposed International Convention Centre, Abuja at The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) at 98,000,000,000.
00, among others.
More gory details of the 'dirty deals' are captured in the report of the Financial Reporting Council, which provided the solid ground for the President to suspend Sanusi whom as it has turned out was in the glass house, dressing up in the daytime without pulling the blinds and pointing to the nakedness of his own neighbours in the NNPC, who may also fall under the presidential hammer soon.
Written By Chukwuka Ezendiaru Chukwukaezendiaru200@yahoo.
com