Sanusi’s magic number: N49.8 billion

A lie doesn’t become truth just because a majority accepts it —Booker Washington.   Speaking eloquently Sanusi Lamido’s (SLS) phrase was spot-on: “The exchange rate needs to be stabilised”, as he spoke at the opening of the 2023 Bank Directors’ Summit last month in Abuja. But if he fooled you then, you must unfool yourself […]

A lie doesn’t become truth just because a majority accepts it

—Booker Washington.

 

Speaking eloquently Sanusi Lamido’s (SLS) phrase was spot-on: “The exchange rate needs to be stabilised”, as he spoke at the opening of the 2023 Bank Directors’ Summit last month in Abuja. But if he fooled you then, you must unfool yourself now. The phrase was a trick to ride on emotions because he quickly turned the discussion to be about himself, not the economy. My worry about this trickery is that SLS was on a mission to reconfigure the facts—about losing his job. Of course, he was referring to his sack as the CBN governor, not the Emirship, but I will tell that story someday, too. 

Specifically, SLS called for the government to address the fundamental question: why is there no money coming in? Why is the NNPCL not able to bring in dollars? I’m sorry, this is the question that cost me my job, and I will continue asking this question until NNPCL fixes it up or until I die. Now, before we accept his ‘trust me’ narration without proof, let us look at the facts from the Archives of the National Assembly. 

Court remands man for defiling 14-year-old girl

Man, 55, bags life sentence for raping, infecting 6-yr-old girl

In September 2013, SLS, then CBN governor, wrote a letter to the president, alleging that the NNPC has not remitted $49.8 billion to the Federation Account. He claimed that there is almost a US$50 billion difference between the crude oil lifted by NNPC (US$65 billion) from January 2012 to July 2013 and the amount actually remitted to the Federation Account (US$15 billion), prompting a call for an investigation. He claimed previous allegations against NNPC from NEITI, KPMG, and the Nuhu Ribadu Committee supported this. The amount represents 76 per cent of the value of crude oil lifting from January 2012 to July 2013. 

The issue raised global concerns when the Leadership Newspaper published the story on December 11, 2013. The story compelled President Goodluck Jonathan to address the allegations during his visit to America. 

To investigate the non-remittance issue by NNPC, the Senate tasked the Finance Committee, chaired by Senator Makarfi, to conduct an inquiry starting with a meeting on December 16, 2013. The Committee planned Public Hearings, requesting key stakeholders—MOF, MPR, CBN, NNPC, DPR, FIRS, NPDC, NEITI, FMPR, PPRA, and others—to submit documents and testify. They engaged Sada/Oris & Co. and Ayor/Nde Osomo & Co. as consultants for auditing NNPC’s expenses. The public hearing, initiated by the Senate President on  December 18,  2013, continued with sessions on 4th, 13th, 20th February, and March 6, 2014.

Like other stakeholders, SLS was directed to submit all supporting documents in his possession, including a copy of his letter to the president regarding NNPC’s unremitted oil revenues. He was also asked to update if new information from NNPC’s GMD had altered his stance on the unremitted revenues. He was also asked to clarify the total amount to be accounted for, considering all reconciliations and presentations.

SLS went on to change his story a few times during the investigation. At one point, he acknowledged that NNPC had remitted US$47 billion out of US$67 billion worth of crude shipped from January to July 2013. 

Similarly, following a meeting with agencies including MOF, MPR, CBN, NNPC, DPR, and FIRS, Okonjo-Iweala, the then Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, presented a “Reconciliation Report.” She stated that NNPC’s total crude lifting was US$67.12 billion, including various revenue streams for the Federation Account and others. Okonjo-Iweala noted that there was a US$10.8 billion shortfall in domestic crude revenue, as per FAAC records. 

NNPC confirmed this shortfall to unpaid subsidy claims, strategic reserves costs, oil losses, and pipeline management, totalling US$10.8 billion. The minister concluded that further verification involving technical expertise might be necessary to fully resolve the issue. The consultants, reviewing records from January 2012 to July 2013, found the actual crude and refined oil losses to be US$0.809 billion, which is US$0.05 billion more than NNPC’s reported figure of US$0.761 billion. Of course, it is on record that PwC audited the NNPC accounts and confirmed SLS’s information was misleading.

The Makarfi Committee found it surprising how SLS initially arrived at the magic number of $49.8 billion. Then, at the first committee hearing, he went on to put forward the figure of US$12 billion as the amount to be reconciled and then changed his position to US$20 billion at the subsequent hearing. Then, in his written submission, SLS suggested that it could be US$20 billion, US$12 billion, $10.8 billion, or anything in between, demonstrating no integrity as demanded of a CBN governor.

The Makarfi Committee also noted that SLS never, orally or in writing, outrightly submitted that monies were missing but that monies were not remitted to the Federation Account by the NNPC. In short, throughout the investigation, it was understood that SLS was just trying to be too clever by half instead of acting with the integrity and professionalism of a central banker. It is unprofessional for a central banker to make such bold allegations. It is gross incompetence.

Now, let’s address the question: Did SLS lie about what cost him his job last month? I will let you judge for yourself. If you need a clue, consider the word ‘incompetence.’