President Asks Sanusi to Resign over Leaked-To Obasanjo- $49.8bn Letter

CBN gov says only two-thirds of Senate can remove him

Jan. 9, 2014

By Steve Omanufeme
President Goodluck Jonathan has asked the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, to resign immediately on the grounds that the letter Sanusi wrote to him on the unremitted $49.8 billion oil revenue to the Federation Account, was leaked to former President Olusegun Obasanjo by the CBN governor.

But Sanusi who has denied leaking the letter to anyone, has refused to resign and informed the president during the heated telephone exchange that he could only be removed by two-thirds of the Senate as required by law.

THISDAY learnt that the president had called Sanusi and accused him of leaking the letter to Obasanjo, which enabled the latter to use it as one of many allegations he levelled against Jonathan in his letter titled: “Before It is Too Late”.

The president, who a source in the presidency said was very angry and was not prepared to allow Sanusi to proceed on his terminal leave in March, asked him to tender his resignation before the close of business last Tuesday.

However, Sanusi denied that he had leaked his letter to Obasanjo and made it abundantly clear he would not be forced out, except he is removed by two-thirds of the Senate.

He also told the president that the letter was available in the presidential villa, available in the finance ministry and available in the central bank and wondered how he (Sanusi) could have leaked the letter, which was so widely available, to a former two-term president of Nigeria who has his people all over the place.

Sanusi also expressed his surprise to the president that he was the one being asked to resign instead of the president to ask those responsible for the non-remittance of the funds to resign.
His response, which threw the president aback, degenerated into a heated exchange during which Sanusi told the president that as the federal government’s Chief Economic Adviser, mandatorily required to bring issues of critical economic importance to the attention of the president, he had done a patriotic duty to his country.