Feb. 7, 2014
A motion seeking to investigate the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over alleged illegal expenditure of N242.3 billion since 2009 without due process has been tabled before the Senate.
In what looks like a fight back from Presidency’s supporters against CBN Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the investigation seeks to establish if the funds spent by the CBN is the 20 per cent of its operating surplus and where the 80 percent was paid into and when.
Sanusi had in recent months accused the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) of not remitting trillions of naira in oil revenues. On Tuesday, he told a Senate committee that a total of $20 billion is missing.
His letter on the missing revenues to the president in September, and its subsequent leakage, pitched him against the Presidency, with Jonathan reportedly asking him to resign.
On Wednesday, a motion was listed in the Senate, sponsored by Senator Ita Enang (PDP, Akwa Ibom) who is seeking for investigations into expenditure by the CBN.
The motion was listed on the order paper for Wednesday but was not considered before senators adjourned sitting to next week Tuesday.
In his motion, Enang gave a detailed breakdown of all intervention projects, programmes and donations made by the apex bank from 2009 to date totaling N242.23 billion. He said many of them circumvented the due process.
Enang said projects that contravened section 15 of the Public Procurement Act, 2007 include construction of the University of Jos Center of Excellence for N9.5 billion, and that of University of Port Harcourt for N10.2 billion; University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus for N6.4 billion in April 2009, two months before Sanusi assumed duty, and construction of Centres of Excellence, University of Lagos for N14.8 billion.
Some other projects are the Intervention Project at Police Academy, Wudil, Kano for N10 billion which has not been awarded; Intervention Project at Edo State University, Ekpoma for N1 billion, similar project at Navy Finance and Logistic School, Owerrinta, Abia, N1 billion and Construction of Centres of Excellence, University of Ibadan, Ibadan Campus N6.8 billion.
The CBN also doled out the sum of N1 billion as intervention project to Gombe State University, N3 billion for the Federal Medical Center, Azare, Bauchi; N6 billion for the Federal Treasury Academy, Orozo, Abuja; N1O billion for the University of Abuja; and Construction of Center of Excellence, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria Campus for N6.1 billion which was also awarded on 27th April 2009, two months before Sanusi took over.
Enang also said the apex bank had spent another N10 billion as intervention project at Administrative Staff College of Nigeria, Badagry, Lagos; N9.2 billion on Development of Centres of Excellence, Bayero University, Kano; Intervention Project at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, N1 billion and another N1 billion at Kaduna State University, Kaduna among others.
Also of note is the alleged purchase of former Nigerian Telecommunications building located in the Central Business District of Abuja for what Senator Enang called “Development and Operation of Hotels and Sundry Commercial Facilities for the Proposed International Convention Centre”.
The transactions allegedly cost N98 billion.
The CBN executed a total of 21 of such projects in the last five years, out of which two were awarded before Sanusi became governor, but only three went through due process certification with the Bureau for Public Procurement, according to Enang.
