FORMER Emir of Kano Lamido Sanusi has revealed how the leaked confidential letter he wrote about missing funds in the Federation Account led to his removal as the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Sanusi who is a former CBN governor was suspended by the former President Goodluck Jonathan over allegations of “financial recklessness and misconduct” after he alleged that $20 billion (£12bn) in oil revenue had gone missing.
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Speaking in Lagos on Sunday at a stage play titled ‘Emir Sanusi: Truth in Time’, Sanusi explained that he was not the one who leaked the letter but he had to stand by his words.
“When people talked about me and the whole missing money thing at CBN, I told them I never made public the question of suspicion of missing money.
“I wrote a confidential letter as the governor of CBN in August. I expressed my concern and nothing happened. The letter leaked after five months. It was not me who announced but once it was out I had to stand by my letter and all my position,” he said.
Speaking on the Muhammadu Buhari administration, Sanusi said he warned the Federal Government of the dangers of its policies in 2015.
“With the current administration, I spent the whole of 2015 and 2016 speaking to everybody who should be communicated to, and telling them that the economic policies they were pursuing were going to destroy the Nigerian economy.
“It was only when that failed that I spoke publicly, and we had to speak. Now the question which everybody is asking is should an Emir speak? The answer is yes and it depends on what you are speaking on,” he added.
He urged citizens to hold authorities to account and advised the youths to take part in politics and governance.
Nurudeen Akewushola is an investigative reporter and fact-checker with The ICIR. He believes courageous in-depth investigative reporting is the key to social justice, accountability and good governance in society. You can reach him via [email protected] and @NurudeenAkewus1 on Twitter.