Former President Jonathan Denies Sacking Sanusi From The CBN

On Thursday, former President Goodluck Jonathan refuted allegations made by Dr. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, and current Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, that $49.8 billion had vanished from public funds.

Jonathan added that the CBN leadership, led by Sanusi, made up the accusation and maintained that no such money went missing.

The former president gave a speech on Thursday in Abuja at the book launch for “Public Policy and Agents Interests: Perspectives from the Emerging World,” which was co-written by Dr. Shamsudeen Usman, a former finance minister who also held the position of minister of planning in his administration.

He addressed the input of the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, who wrote in the book that he was removed from office for disclosing the money’s disappearance during Jonathan’s government.

Sanusi had brought up the issue, claiming it was the reason behind his termination as governor of the CBN.

Sanusi first brought attention to the disparities in repatriation of oil money in 2013, which resulted in the unaccounted for sum of $49 billion.

However, following conversations with the finance ministry, his initial estimate was later changed to $20 billion.
The Jonathan administration swiftly refuted the allegations, with several government agencies charging Sanusi with seeking to topple the government.

President Jonathan dismissed Sanusi from his position as CBN Governor in February 2014, just a few months after the accusations were made, due to “financial recklessness and misconduct”. Many Nigerians, however, think that the suspension was a political ploy prompted by his reporting of the embezzled funds.

Sanusi was appointed as Kano’s sixteenth emir, removed in 2020, and then restored in 2024.

However, Jonathan, who chaired the book launch, disputed with Sanusi’s claim regarding the lost money in his opening remarks, even if he agreed with the book’s thesis and suggested reading it for further research.

According to Jonathan, Sanusi was suspended rather than fired, and such funds would not have vanished without having an immediate effect on Nigeria, whose budget at the time was estimated to be around $32 billion.

He also related how former German Chancellor Angela Merkel approached him about the issue, telling him that it was impossible for such money to have been taken from a poor nation without anyone noticing.

Let me state that there were several points brought up by a contributor that I did not agree with. But since he is our royal father, I won’t be taking any offence.

“It’s not completely accurate that he claimed he was fired for blowing the whistle on the $49.8 billion loss to the federal government. He did not lose his job. He was placed on leave when the Financial Reporting Council questioned the CBN’s spending. Additionally, there were significant violations that required examination. That was the cause.

But the time was limited in some way. Therefore, his tenure expired before we were done. He clarified, “Most likely, he would have received a call back.

No such funds vanished, the former president insisted. He added that when the numbers shifted from the narrative of $49 billion to $20 billion and then $12 billion, Sanusi’s allegations started to falter.

“As for the $49.8 billion issue, I’m still not convinced that the federal government lost that much money.

Our budget for that year was $31.6 billion. Therefore, no one seemed to care that a nation with a $31.6 billion budget lost over $50 billion yet salaries continued to be paid. More investigation is required by the researchers who wrote this book.

Jonathan said, “And even more so when our esteemed royal father came up with the figures, first $49.8 billion, later $20 billion, and later $12 billion—I don’t even know which one is correct.”

According to Jonathan, Price Water Coopers’ investigation into the incident showed that while no such sum had been stolen, the NNPC was unable to account for $1.48 billion at the time.

Additionally, he mentioned that the allegations were judged to be false by the Senate Committee on Finance, which was then led by Senator Ahmed Makarfi.

However, speaking later, Sanusi, who was the royal father at the event, dismissed Jonathan’s claim insisting that he was “constructively dismissed”.

“My boss, who sacked me. I was constructively dismissed. I continue to respect Jonathan and I don’t have grudges against anyone,” Sanusi said as he delivered a short message at the event he presided over as Royal Father of the Day.

Didactic Information Hut reports that the event witnessed the formal unveiling of the Shamsuddeen Usman Foundation, founded and registered by his children in his honour. The SUF is dedicated to promoting education and Artificial Intelligence in the country.