That is according to a report by Thisday . Find
it below...
President Goodluck Jonathan has asked
the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)
Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, to
resign immediately on the grounds that
the letter Sanusi wrote to him on the
unremitted $49.8 billion oil revenue to
the Federation Account, was leaked to
former President Olusegun Obasanjo by
the CBN governor.
But Sanusi who has denied leaking the
letter to anyone, has refused to resign
and informed the president during the
heated telephone exchange that he
could only be removed by two-thirds of
the Senate as required by law.
THISDAY learnt that the president had called
Sanusi and accused him of leaking the letter
to Obasanjo, which enabled the latter to use it
as one of many allegations he levelled against
Jonathan in his letter titled: “Before It is Too
Late”.
The president, who a source in the presidency
said was very angry and was not prepared to
allow Sanusi to proceed on his terminal leave
in March, asked him to tender his resignation
before the close of business last Tuesday.
However, Sanusi denied that he had leaked
his letter to Obasanjo and made it abundantly
clear he would not be forced out, except he is
removed by two-thirds of the Senate.
He also told the president that the letter was
available in the presidential villa, available in
the finance ministry and available in the
central bank and wondered how he (Sanusi)
could have leaked the letter, which was so
widely available, to a former two-term
president of Nigeria who has his people all
over the place.
Sanusi also expressed his surprise to the
president that he was the one being asked to
resign instead of the president to ask those
responsible for the non-remittance of the
funds to resign.
His response, which threw the president
aback, degenerated into a heated exchange
during which Sanusi told the president that as
the federal government’s Chief Economic
Adviser, mandatorily required to bring issues
of critical economic importance to the
attention of the president, he had done a
patriotic duty to his country.
“He informed the president that it is necessary
to deal with the issues and not the letter that
had been leaked since it has since been
established that it was not $49.8 billion that
had not been remitted to the Federation
Account, but $10.8 billion, which was still in
dispute and by any stretch of imagination was
still a large sum.
“Sanusi felt he was being forced out for doing
his patriotic duty to his country by drawing
attention to the unaccounted funds. He only
has two months to go, so this was a ploy to
force him out and destroy his career and
reputation.
“He knew this and for this reason, refused to
throw in the towel as requested by the
president,” a source familiar with the
conversation said.
But the president was said to have remained
adamant and insisted on the CBN governor’s
resignation.
Following the exchange, Sanusi, another
source said, briefed his close aides at the CBN
and family of what had transpired between
himself and the president.
The source said he did it to shield himself
from harm, as he felt his life might be in
danger for defying the direct order of the
president.
When contacted Wednesday on the issue, the
president’s Special Adviser, Media and
Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, did not pick up or
return THISDAY’s calls and text messages.
Also, efforts to get Sanusi and the CBN to
speak on the matter met a brick wall.
Sanusi had written to the president in
September informing him that, among other
issues, the Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation (NNPC) had not remitted $49.8
billion of oil revenue to the Federation Account
over a 19-month period.
Although the letter was not made public until
December 4, 2013 when it was leaked,
Obasanjo referred to it in his letter dated
December 2, 2013, to the president, in which
the former president also accused Jonathan of
being clannish, destroying the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP), compiling a political
watch-list of 1,000 people and training
snipers to target opponents of the
administration, among other allegations.
The president had since denied all of
Obasanjo's claims in his rebuttal of the former
president's letter.
Expectedly, Sanusi’s letter drew the ire of the
opposition All Progressives Congress (APC),
which called on the National Assembly to
commence impeachment proceedings against
the president.
In addition, the Senate directed its Committee
on Finance to probe the contents of Sanusi’s
letter.
However, Sanusi’s letter was immediately
denied by NNPC, which accused the CBN
governor of not only playing politics but also
of being ignorant of the operations of the oil
and gas sector.
Following NNPC’s repeated denials, a joint
press conference was convened by the
Coordinating Minister for the Economy and
Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala;
Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani
Alison-Madueke and Sanusi, during which it
was revealed that a reconciliation process
was ongoing, and had so far established that
it was not $49.8 billion that had not been
repatriated to the Federation Account but
$10.8 billion.
During the press conference, however, Sanusi
attempted to distance himself from the
statements made by Okonjo-Iweala and
Alison-Madueke, stating that it was $12
billion that had not been remitted by NNPC.
But the finance minister immediately
interjected, insisting that it was $10.8 billion
that had not been remitted to the Federation
Account and was still in dispute.
But it is not clear what would now happen to
the CBN governor who has already indicated
that he will leave office in March on a three-
month terminal leave ahead of the expiration
of his tenure in June.
He had earlier written to the president last
year that he would not be seeking a second
term.
Clearly the Jonathan presidency must be
feeling uncomfortable with Sanusi's remaining
five months in office in this political season.
As at last night, efforts were being made to
reconcile the president and the CBN governor
and create an orderly transition at the apex
bank so as not to harm growing confidence in
the Nigerian economy.
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