On whether he was on notice with respect to his suspension:
Well, I have been told by my office that a letter was received. As you
know, I flew in this morning to Niamey along with other Governors of West African Central
Banks to meet with the President of Niger and President of
Ghana…Fortunately, I came in with my VP Sarah Alade whom I have been
asked to hand over to. I have left the meeting to hand over to her. I
have just met the Nigerian Ambassador to Niger who confirmed to me that
the President asked him to inform me of the decision.
On accusations of “various acts of financial misconduct and recklessness” he said:
I don’t know what they are talking about. When I come back, I will see
what those allegations are…I don’t think there is any issue raised that
has not been raised before. We all know what this is about. This is
about consequences for decisions I have taken… This is something that is
long overdue. I am surprised it took them so long.
On concerns for the market:
Basically, my concern is for the safety of the market…I have had a
wonderful time in service to my country. I would not want to see all of
my work unraveled. No individual is worth it.
On whether his suspension is politically motivated: It is not for me to comment. I am not sure that erm… I think the answer to that is obvious…there is a legal question of
whether the president has the authority to suspend the Governor and
whether suspension is not removal. It will be helpful to establish the
principles by court.
Even
if I challenge it, I will not go back to the job. Even if I challenge
it successfully, I will not go back to it. I think it will be in the
interest of the institution for the courts to establish once and for all
if the president has the powers to do this… If it is not challenged,
the next Central Bank Governor cannot be independent with fear of being
suspended by a politician. I do plan to have the courts confirm if
indeed that authority exists and I will challenge it.
On his legacy: He pointed out Low inflation. Stable exchange rate.
Reformed and well governed banking system, robust reserve, independent
central bank, financial inclusion, systems reform…history will record
this, nothing is going to change that. You can suspend an individual,
you can’t suspend the truth. And this is all about these concerns around
oil revenues, around decadence in the oil sector and if this is going
to bring about the $20 billion then that’s fine.
Sanusi
Lamido also emphasized the fact that he trusted the competence of his
successor Sarah Alade and the other deputy governors to continue his
good work. His grouse seemed to be on the legality of his suspension and
the future independence of the CBN Governor. He insisted he’d go to the
courts to contest the arbitrariness of his suspension, citing the fact
that the President himself did not sign his suspension letter as it was
signed by the Secretary to the Federal Government. He finished by saying
he had no regrets or ill feelings towards anyone on the matter. Watch
the video below.
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