Sanusi is still CBN governor – Jonathan (with VIDEO)

Sanusi is still CBN governor –
Jonathan (with VIDEO)
President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday said that Mallam Lamido Sanusi
was still the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.
The president added that the suspended governor of CBN could return to
office if he comes clean of the allegations against him.
He also said that he had the powers to suspend Sanusi based on clear
provisions of the constitution which empowered him to do so.
“The president has the power to suspend Sanusi and such power is
clearly spelt out in the constitution. The president has oversight function
over the CBN.
Jonathan said, “The CBN issue is quite unfortunate. The question is
whether the President, by virtue of the constitution , has powers to
suspend the governor of the CBN and I will tell you yes.
“The President has absolute powers to suspend the CBN governor. CBN is
not even well defined in the Nigerian constitution.
“If you look at the Nigerian constitution, Section 153 talks about executive
bodies like Federal Character Commission, Civil Service Commission,
Independent National Electoral Commission, the Judicial Service
Commission and the Code of Conduct. There are about 14 of them; these
are clearly defined . The section states that the President appoints but the
Senate clears.
“For the President to remove anybody, he must go through the Senate.
The CBN as the number one bank is not even well defined in the
constitution, but the CBN law makes the provision that to appoint the
governor,the deputy governors and non-executive directors, the President
appoints and sends to the Senate.
“But the President has oversight functions over the CBN. So, if somebody
tells you that the CBN is a different entity, it is not true because for the
CBN governor to change the colour of the naira, the President must
approve.
“Normally, when you audit the CBN, you publish it. After auditing, for you
to publish it, the President must approve.That means the President must
accept that that audit report is correct.
“But Sanusi is still the governor of the CBN and people must know that.
That is why there can never be a substantive governor until the issue is
sorted out. Sanusi can come back tomorrow to continue his work
because the issues raised are the issues that the board of the CBN with
the Financial Reporting Council, the authorities that have powers to look
into the financial transactions of the CBN, will deal with.
“On the issue of suspension, the CBN Act is somehow anomalous. The
CBN governor is the chairman of the CBN board. He is the Chief Executive
of the CBN and at the same time the chairman of the CBN board, so if
there are allegations about the CBN governor, it becomes a problem for
you to look into them.
“There were issues raised based on the 2012 audit report and for you to
look into those issues, we felt that for you to be sure of what you are
doing, the CBN governor should just step aside.
“Immediately the board and the council sort out those grey areas and if
they do not accept, the governor comes back to do his work. So you
cannot now say you are going to the Senate to ask for power to suspend .
Maybe in one week or so, the board and the council sort out the grey
areas, then you can go back to the Senate and say the man is coming
back.
“No. It is when you want to remove the governor completely. Assuming
the board and the council looked into those grey areas and felt that the
infractions are grave enough for Sanusi to leave completely, then I have
to go to the Senate.
“No matter the issues they raise, I cannot say I am firing him. It is the
Senate that can do so. I can place those issues before the Senate and if
the Senate agrees with the report, then they will say yes, he can leave.
“ People must realise that the issues of suspension and removal are very
different.”