THISDAY learnt that the president had called Sanusi and accused him of
leaking the letter to Obasanjo, which enabled the latter to use it as
one of many allegations he levelled against Jonathan in his letter
titled: “Before It is Too Late”.
The president, who a source in the presidency said was very angry and
was not prepared to allow Sanusi to proceed on his terminal leave in
March, asked him to tender his resignation before the close of business
last Tuesday.
However, Sanusi denied that he had leaked his letter to Obasanjo and
made it abundantly clear he would not be forced out, except he is
removed by two-thirds of the Senate.
He also told the president that the letter was available in the
presidential villa, available in the finance ministry and available in
the central bank and wondered how he (Sanusi) could have leaked the
letter, which was so widely available, to a former two-term president of
Nigeria who has his people all over the place.
Sanusi also expressed his surprise to the president that he was the one
being asked to resign instead of the president to ask those responsible
for the non-remittance of the funds to resign.
His response, which threw the president aback, degenerated into a
heated exchange during which Sanusi told the president that as the
federal government’s Chief Economic Adviser, mandatorily required to
bring issues of critical economic importance to the attention of the
president, he had done a patriotic duty to his country.
“He informed the president that it is necessary to deal with the issues
and not the letter that had been leaked since it has since been
established that it was not $49.8 billion that had not been remitted to
the Federation Account, but $10.8 billion, which was still in dispute
and by any stretch of imagination was still a large sum.
“Sanusi felt he was being forced out for doing his patriotic duty to
his country by drawing attention to the unaccounted funds. He only has
two months to go, so this was a ploy to force him out and destroy his
career and reputation.
“He knew this and for this reason, refused to throw in the towel as
requested by the president,” a source familiar with the conversation
said.
But the president was said to have remained adamant and insisted on the CBN governor’s resignation.
Following the exchange, Sanusi, another source said, briefed his close
aides at the CBN and family of what had transpired between himself and
the president.
The source said he did it to shield himself from harm, as he felt his
life might be in danger for defying the direct order of the president.
When contacted Wednesday on the issue, the president’s Special Adviser,
Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, did not pick up or return
THISDAY’s calls and text messages.
Also, efforts to get Sanusi and the CBN to speak on the matter met a brick wall.
Sanusi had written to the president in September informing him that,
among other issues, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)
had not remitted $49.8 billion of oil revenue to the Federation Account
over a 19-month period.
Although the letter was not made public until December 4, 2013 when it
was leaked, Obasanjo referred to it in his letter dated December 2,
2013, to the president, in which the former president also accused
Jonathan of being clannish, destroying the Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP), compiling a political watch-list of 1,000 people and training
snipers to target opponents of the administration, among other
allegations.
The president had since denied all of Obasanjo's claims in his rebuttal of the former president's letter.
Expectedly, Sanusi’s letter drew the ire of the opposition All
Progressives Congress (APC), which called on the National Assembly to
commence impeachment proceedings against the president.
In addition, the Senate directed its Committee on Finance to probe the contents of Sanusi’s letter.
However, Sanusi’s letter was immediately denied by NNPC, which accused
the CBN governor of not only playing politics but also of being ignorant
of the operations of the oil and gas sector.
Following NNPC’s repeated denials, a joint press conference was
convened by the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of
Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs.
Diezani Alison-Madueke and Sanusi, during which it was revealed that a
reconciliation process was ongoing, and had so far established that it
was not $49.8 billion that had not been repatriated to the Federation
Account but $10.8 billion.
During the press conference, however, Sanusi attempted to distance
himself from the statements made by Okonjo-Iweala and Alison-Madueke,
stating that it was $12 billion that had not been remitted by NNPC.
But the finance minister immediately interjected, insisting that it was
$10.8 billion that had not been remitted to the Federation Account and
was still in dispute.
But it is not clear what would now happen to the CBN governor who has
already indicated that he will leave office in March on a three-month
terminal leave ahead of the expiration of his tenure in June.
He had earlier written to the president last year that he would not be seeking a second term.
Clearly the Jonathan presidency must be feeling uncomfortable with
Sanusi's remaining five months in office in this political season.
As at last night, efforts were being made to reconcile the president
and the CBN governor and create an orderly transition at the apex bank
so as not to harm growing confidence in the Nigerian economy.
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