Sanusi Lamido, the suspended Central Bank governor
has defended his bank against the allegations of spending excess billions on,
staff emoluments, extensive loans and maintenance of devices. Before the suspention of Mr sanusi last week, the president,
Goodluck Jonathan
accused
the mr Sanusi (CBN governor) of what he referred to as “financial
recklessness”.As the news had reported on exclusive details concerning the
president’s second query to the CBN Governor earlier 2013, in which Mr.
Goodluck Jonathan prompted a demand on an urgent clarification of the spending
in much of a trillion naira by the CBN.
Jonathan’s
query followed the submission of the Auditors report of the CBN by Mr. Sanusi Lamido (CBN Governor) to
Jonathan on the 26th of february 2013. Jonathan claimed in his
letter that the CBN Governor swift response on the issues raised would be
helpful in providing proper “appreciation of the nation’s economic outlook”. It
was, however, the CBN governor’s reply that the president forwarded to the
Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria, on whose recommendation the president
said it relied to suspend the CBN governor(mr Sanusi Lamido).
According
to the 22nd point query,the President Mr. Goodluck Jonathan demanded
amongst other things,which includes the report on the financial statement by
the external auditor of CBN 2012 and the financial reporting framework under
which the financial statements were being prepared.
President
Jonathan also directed the Mr Sanusi Lamido to provide/present the names of all the trustees of the CBN’s self-insurance,
including the board minutes approving the said self-insurance scheme and
trustees and the entries of the annual appropriations and also indicating where
it was posted in the financial statements provided.
CBN
governor (mr Sanusi Lamido) was also summoned and directed to give explanations
on the composition of CBN’s gratuity of N64, 280 billion in 2011 and N72.653
billion in 2012 and how it was determined as well as the board minutes and
approval practice of making provisions for internal currency insurance based on
the premium that would have been payable to external insurers had they been
engaged. Jonathan also wants to be given names of the insurance companies that
were filed tested in the exercise and the modalities.
President
Goodluck Jonathan also demanded statements and the justification for the “maintenance
and repairs expenses” of N2.070 billion in 2011 and N2.268 billion in 2012 and
N23.865 billion in 2011 as well as the administration of expenses of N42.596
billion and N48.340 billion in 2011. the extent of repairs of intervention
activities and printing machines and of N19 billion in 2012
As
being learnt by this newspaper that the query raised by the president jonathan
contained basically the same questions that the Financial Reporting Council had
asked CBN’s auditors who had sent a copy of the audit report to it. The
auditors, Ernst and Young and Pricewaterhousecoopers had responded to the
questions, attaching relevant documents to back up their submissions.
Those
people familiar with the matter said it therefore came as a surprise to the CBN
when the president wrote to the CBN Governor asking same questions to which the
auditors had provided satisfactory answers to. The news sources said in
responding to the president, the CBN governor simply reproduced and forwarded
the same answers that the auditors provided to the Financial Reporting Council.
In his response to the president, obtained exclusively by the news source, Mr.
Sanusi said the repairs and maintenance expenses relate to general office
equipment and ICT maintenance.
The
letter which was dated 20th may, 2013, two weeks after the president
Jonathans query. Mr. Sanusi said about 92% of the maintenance expenses were for
communication and information technology equipments.
The
Central Bank of Nigeria does not have printing machines, as he said. On why he
granted N50.06 billion as loan to Wema Bank and another N500 billion to Asset
Management Company of Nigeria, AMCON, Mr Sanusi said the loans were necessary
because AMCON was sustaining serious and heavy losses while WEMA was still
having liquidity challenges. He said the loans were being worked by the bank to
be recovered
On
the composition of the CBN’s N64.28 billion in 2011 and N72.65 billion gratuity
in 2012, CBN president said employees of CBN are entitled to gratuity payments after
completing five sequential full years of service with the bank. He also said
that the gratuity is computed based on the number of years of service, gratuity
rate, and gross emoluments for final year of service.
Mr. Sanusi(CBN governor),defended his spending
of N23.865 billion in 2011and N19 billion in 2012 as intervention activities of
the bank, saying the funds were channelled to the economy of critical sectors. These
activities were being carried out as part of the bank’s developmental role,” As
the CBN governor Sanusi Lamido had
stated”.
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