Sanusi Faults Financial Recklessness Allegation
Suspended governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, said that the financial recklessness accusation against him was ungrounded.
Sanusi said this at the weekend while receiving a service to humanity award from the North-West Zone of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) at Kano University of Science and Technology, Wudil.
He expressed surprise over the allegation that the CBN had spent some N163bn under the educational intervention scheme.
Sanusi said that the bank "judiciously spent N56 billion under the educational intervention. An average of N11 billion is being spent every year for five years in 27 universities and six polytechnics across the nation."
The suspended governor noted that the Federal Government was fully aware of this figures.
Sanusi also said that when the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) embarked on industrial action, the FG sought CBN's assistance in resolving the problem. According to Sanusi, the apex bank "offered to erect some structures in various universities", which "helped in convincing ASUU to call off its strike".
"I was therefore surprised to read that the intervention made by CBN amounts to financial recklessness.”
Receiving the award, Sanusi said that the CBN educational interventions were among the things that he was most proud of.
"I have always believed until we fixed education, we are never going to fix Nigeria’s problems."
He noted, however, that it was not him who started the interventions. A former governor, Charles Soludo, had approved the centre of excellence at a number of universities, Sanusi added.
Also honoured by the SSANU was Senator Kabiru Ibrahim Gaya.
It will be recalled that the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN) had produced a report in which it accused Sanusi of financial recklessness and gross misconduct of the CBN. The report served a ground for President Goodluck Jonathan to suspend the CBN governor on February 20, 2014.
Sanusi denied the accusation saying that he was removed for revealing corruption at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
Last week, the Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, revealed that an accounting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers would carry out an independent forensic audit of the NNPC accounts.
Source: Legit.ng
