Why Sanusi had to go – Jonathan

Jonathan, who spoke during a media chat on national television and radio, said also he had the powers to suspend the governor.There has been contention as to whether the president’s suspension of Sanusi was legal because the CBN Act provides that the governor can only be removed with the approval of the Senate.“I tell you […]

Jonathan, who spoke during a media chat on national television and radio, said also he had the powers to suspend the governor.
There has been contention as to whether the president’s suspension of Sanusi was legal because the CBN Act provides that the governor can only be removed with the approval of the Senate.
“I tell you yes, the president has absolute powers to suspend the CBN governor,” Jonathan said, in response to a question.
“CBN as the number one bank is not even well-defined in the Nigerian constitution, but the CBN law makes provision that to appoint the governor and deputy governors of CBN and executive directors, president appoints and sends to the Senate.
“But the President has oversight over the CBN, so if anybody tells you that the CBN is a different country, it is not true because for the CBN to change the colour of the naira, the president must approve it.”
He said Sanusi is still the CBN governor since he was only suspended, and that he could return to office if investigations clear him.
“Sanusi could come back tomorrow to continue his work because the issues raised are issues that the board of CBN with the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria, the authority that has powers to look into the financial transactions of CBN will deal with… if it (the outcome) does not affect the governor, he comes back to do his work,” he said.
“Assuming the board and the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria look into those grey areas and feel that the infractions are grave enough for Sanusi to leave completely, then I will have to go to Senate, no matter the issues they raised I cannot say I am firing you, it is the Senate…. So the issue of suspension and removal are very different.”
On whether the government would prosecute Sanusi, Jonathan said he might only be prosecuted if found guilty of fraud.
“If Sanusi has no case to answer, how will you prosecute somebody that has no case to answer? But if he has a case to answer, it depends on the nature of the case. In the public service, there are some cases that if it is not criminal in nature, it is either an act of negligence or probably mistakes a process he is supposed to follow, he may not necessarily be prosecuted.
“There may be other sanctions…. So everything does not end up with prosecution. Prosecution can only come if a clear fraud is established. But if a fraud is not established, maybe somebody does not follow due process, or some either issues that are not clearly fraudulent, we may not necessarily prosecute him even though the person is guilty.”
On why he did not suspend all the CBN deputy governors who were also indicted by the report, Jonathan said Sanusi was suspended not because he had been found guilty but because he was the chairman of the CBN board.
“You cannot remove everybody,” he added.
The president parried a question on when he would declare his re-election bid in the 2015 elections.
He said the political environment was already “hot” for him to make any declaration.
“If I tell Nigerians today that I am contesting, there will be issues and if I say I am not contesting, there will be issues. The political environment is already hot. So let’s leave that for now,” he said.
Jonathan said the National Conference would begin on March 10, and that it was not being convened for fears of disintegration of the country but mainly to correct any issues that need to be corrected. He said a chairman, deputy chairman and secretary would be appointed for the conference on March 3, a week before the takeoff date.
‘Shettima statement unfortunate’
Jonathan also spoke on the claims by Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima that Boko Haram insurgents were better armed and more motivated than the soldiers fighting them.
He described the governor’s statements as unfortunate, and threatened to pull out the military for one month to see if Shettima would stay at the Government House in Maiduguri.
“The statement is a little bit unfortunate because you don’t expect a governor to make that kind of statement,” he said.
“And if the governor of Borno State feels that the Nigerian armed forces are not useful, he should tell Nigerians. I will pull them out for one month (and see) whether he will stay in that his Government House, just one month, but I will fly back to take over the state….
“A governor should be mindful about what he says. Yes, there are issues. No matter how frustrated you are, you don’t make those kinds of statements.”
Jonathan denied plans to appoint a military administrator in Borno, as reported in the Sunday Trust newspaper.
“Well, Goodluck Jonathan is not aware that the president of Nigeria is sending a military administrator to Borno State,” he said when asked on the matter.
Jonathan said there were successes recorded in efforts to contain the insurgency.
“Fighting terror all over the world is not something so easy but I can assure you that we will get over it,” he said.
“I always say from day one that terrorists are difficult to deal with. They get brainwashed completely. They linked up with other terror organisations globally. It was easy for us in the Niger Delta for negotiations to succeed because they don’t hide their identities and they tell you their grievances, rightly or wrongly. But the terror all over the world, there is no rule of engagement.
“Niger Delta militants don’t just go and kill people anyhow. But Boko Haram is going to markets, schools to slaughter people. So, the approach of terrorists all over the world is different.”
He added: “The Boko Haram attacks started from Abuja—the bombings of the UN building, Police headquarters and a market. If the security agents are not working, I don’t think we will be moving freely in Abuja…. There are successes and surely, we will get over it.”
Kerosene subsidy
On the controversy trailing the kerosene subsidy, Jonathan said the late President Umaru Yar’Adua lacked power to stop kerosene subsidy because the petroleum law does not recognise the president but only petroleum minister.
He said in 2008-2009, international crude oil prices dropped significantly and it was then that government thought subsidies should stop but labour unions opposed this.
“Of course kerosene had been N50. And we realised that if we pulled out, Nigerians at that time would have bought PMS at N50 to 60 per litre. And we agreed that we were going to pull out, completely deregulate, because if we had pulled out then, the pump price would have dropped,” he said.
“And if the pump price drops, nobody will protest. And that is the best time. So those approvals were given. But along the line, the labour leaders were even the people who said look, this may be short-lived, let’s wait for another six months and if it is stable, then government can pull out.
“They were afraid that probably it may go up again. So if we pull out and the international pump price go up, citizens will suffer. Yar’Adua made those approvals, so we decided to just leave it that way. The petroleum law does not recognise the President but only the minister….
“When people talk of kerosene, that president approved, they would have also talked of PMS. Those are memos from the principal secretary to the president to commence authorising the minister to act. The president has no powers based on the law. But we know that before the minister will effect it, the president must give clearance. So, since the labour people came, everybody left it at that stage….To answer your questions, kerosene subsidy still remains.”