FRC lacks power to investigate Sanusi – Court

A Lagos Federal High Court, Monday upheld the suit of the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Sanusi Lamido Sanusi  challenging the power of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) of Nigeria to investigate him over alleged financial recklessness. In his verdict  Justice John Tsoho granted all the prayers of the embattled boss […]

A Lagos Federal High Court, Monday upheld the suit of the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Sanusi Lamido Sanusi  challenging the power of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) of Nigeria to investigate him over alleged financial recklessness.

In his verdict  Justice John Tsoho granted all the prayers of the embattled boss of the apex bank  and barred the FRC from proceeding  with the probe.

He said  Sanusi was right to have approached to court to halt the probe as well as protect his constitutional rights , since it was clear that the arrangement was designed to hook him. Tsoho dismissed. the argument of the FRC that the probe was not only about Sanusi, and that the ex-CBN boss ought to have presented himself for the probe, 

He  ruled that the briefing note sent to President Goodluck Jonathan was revealing, as it was obvious that the FRC instigated the probe, and had indicted Sanusi even before the commencement of the probe.

He  also punctured  a position in the briefing note that Jonathan’s political opponents might use the report to nail the President, saying the insinuation also proved the prejudice which the FRC had towards Sanusi.

The court, consequently upheld all the prayers of  Sanusi such as : “A declaration that the defendant’s recommendation regarding the plaintiff in briefing note date June 7, 2013, that he be removed from office as CBN Governor, were ultra vires their powers under the FRCN Act 2011.

“A declaration that the proposed investigation as advertised in the Punch newspaper of March 24, in the circumstance of having reached a conclusion in the briefing note of June 2013, before embarking on the investigation, is tantamount to a breach of natural justice.
“A declaration that the defendant do not have the power to conduct investigation as advertised in the newspaper. In the suit, Sanusi had listed the FRC and the Executive Secretary of the Council, Jim Obaze, as first and second respondents respectively.

While adopting the case, Sanusi’s lawyer, Kola Awodein (SAN) had contended that the FRC lacked the power to carry out the wide ranging investigation into the books of CBN under Sanusi, as the probe was in breach of fundamental rights to natural justice.
 Awodein had  recalled that in the briefing note, his client (Sanusi) was accused of recklessly spending about N20.2 billion on legal and professional fees, but that N19.8 billion of the sum was actually used to pay a judgment sum to some pensioners of CBN in a Supreme Court case filed by one Amao against the apex bank.

He  denied that huge sums were paid as local flight fees to Emirates Airline and Wings Aviation Limited, which were said to be foreign airlines, adding that a proper clarification would have been made had Sanusi been given fair hearing in the first instance.

Replying, FRC’s lawyer, Adesegun Ajibola (SAN), who had earlier adopted a preliminary objection to the suit, urged the court to discountenance the oral allegations raised by Awodein in court.

He said the court was not an administrative tribunal, and that the allegations ought to have been raised as Sanusi’s defence during the FRC probe.

Ajibola said that what Sanusi hoped to do with the suit was to stop an investigation which was yet to commence as regards to him, and that the allegation of lack of fair hearing was misplaced because the suspended CBN Governor had always been aware of the issues in the allegation.