Sanusi Is Still CBN Governor– President Jonathan

Nigerian President Jonathan on Monday said that Mallam Lamido Sanusi is still the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.

The president added that the suspended governor of CBN could return to office if he comes clean of the allegations against him.

He also said that he had the powers to suspend Sanusi based on clear provisions of the constitution which empowered him to do so.

"The president has the power to suspend Sanusi and such power is clearly spelt out in the constitution. The president has oversight function over the CBN."

"The CBN issue is quite unfortunate. The question is whether the President, by virtue of the constitution , has powers to suspend the governor of the CBN and I will tell you 'yes', " Jonathan said.

"The President has absolute powers to suspend the CBN governor. CBN is not even well defined in the Nigerian constitution."

"If you look at the Nigerian constitution, Section 153 talks about executive bodies like Federal Character Commission, Civil Service Commission, Independent National Electoral Commission, the Judicial Service Commission and the Code of Conduct. There are about 14 of them; these are clearly defined . The section states that the President appoints but the Senate clears."

"For the President to remove anybody, he must go through the Senate. The CBN as the number one bank is not even well defined in the constitution, but the CBN law makes the provision that to appoints the governor,the deputy governors and non-executive directors, the President appoints and sends to the Senate."

"But the President has oversight functions over the CBN. So, if somebody tells you that the CBN is a different entity, it is not true because for the CBN governor to change the colour of the naira, the President must approve."

"Normally, when you audit the CBN,you publish it. After auditing, for you to publish it, the President must approve. That means the President must accept that the audit report is correct."

"But Sanusi is still the governor of the CBN and people must know that. That is why there can never be a substantive governor until the issue is sorted out. Sanusi can come back tomorrow to continue his work because the issues raised are the issues that the board of the CBN with the Financial Reporting Council, the authorities that have powers to look into the financial transactions of the CBN, will deal with."

"On the issue of suspension, the CBN Act is somehow anomalous. The CBN governor is the chairman of the CBN board. He is the Chief Executive of the CBN and at the same time the chairman of the CBN board, so if there are allegations about the CBN governor, it becomes a problem for you to look into them."

"There were issues raised based on the 2012 audit report and for you to look into those issues, we felt that for you to be sure of what you are doing, the CBN governor should just step aside."

"Immediately the board and the council sort out those grey areas and if they do not accept, the governor comes back to do his work. So you cannot now say you are going to the Senate to ask for power to suspend . Maybe in one week or so, the board and the council sort out the grey areas, then you can go back to the Senate and say the man is coming back. No. It is when you want to remove the governor completely."

"Assuming the board and the council looked into those grey areas and felt that the infractions are grave enough for Sanusi to leave completely, then I have to go to the Senate."

"No matter the issues they raise, I cannot say I am firing him. It is the Senate that can do so. I can place those issues before the Senate and if the Senate agrees with the report, then they will say 'yes, he can leave'."

"People must realise that the issues of suspension and removal are very different."