Suspended
Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria
(CBN), Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi on
Thursday shunned the Financial
Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC) panel
sitting in Lagos, accusing it of bias,
against the rule of law and in bad faith.
The Council had invited Sanusi alongside
the deputy governors of the apex bank
to appear before it yesterday as part of
the ongoing investigations into the
activities of the CBN. The deputy
governors are Mr. Kingsley Moghalu,
Alhaji Suleiman Barau, Mr. Tunde Lemo
(who recently retired as deputy governor
of operations) and the acting governor
of the central bank, Dr (Mrs) Sarah
Alade.
Also invited to appear before the council
were the Managing Director, Bank of
Industry (BoI), Ms. Evelyn Oputu, Mr.
Babatunde Dayo and Gabriel Okpeh.
Information Nigeria reports that while
every other invitee showed up at the
Elephant House venue of the sitting, the
suspended CBN governor and Alade did
not show up.
Sanusi, in a letter written on his behalf
by his counsel, Kola Awodein (SAN) said
“Whilst our client is not averse to an
objective investigation by an appropriate
and impartial authority into the
activities of the CBN during his tenure
as governor, or into his own activities as
a citizen, our client is constrained to
decline the FRC’s invitation on the basis
of bias, breach of the rules of natural
Justice, absence of statutory power,
violation of the rule of law, and conduct
prejudicial to good public administration
and the special position of the Central
Bank of Nigeria”.
The letter, which was dated March 25,
2014, and addressed to the executive
secretary and Chief Executive Officer,
Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria,
Mr. Jim Obazee, said “Our Client received
the letter of March 14, 2014 from the
Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria
(FRC), wherein he was invited to appear
and explain his involvement in the
activities of the CBN between 2011 and
2012. We refer to our client’s response
of March 16, 2014 to the FRC, by which
he sought clarity on the specific
activities of the CBN sought to be
investigated, to which he is yet to receive
a response.
“Our client was thus surprised to see the
FRC’s advertorial on page 51 of This Day
Newspaper and page 34 of the Punch
Newspaper (as well as other newspapers)
on March 24, 2014 inviting him in
respect of the same subject matter. We
take the view that this advertorial is in
bad faith, just as it is calculated to
embarrass and disparage our client. We
are also of the firm view that this
advertorial is evidence of an avowed
intent to act prejudicially.
“At all events, it is appalling that our
client is now being invited after the FRC
had arrived at false and malicious
conclusions in its Briefing Note dated
June 7, 2013 to the President (Briefing
Note). Those conclusions include:
‘Incompetence or acting outside the
object clause of the CBN; Nonchalance;
Fraudulent activities; Wastefulness;
Abuse of due process and Deliberate
efforts to misrepresent facts’.
“It is evident from the foregoing
conclusions and recommendations that
the FRC has pre-judged what it now
purports to investigate, thereby
compromising the integrity of any such
investigation.
“Moreover, the credibility of the
purported investigation is further
undermined by the fact that in reaching
the decisions contained in the Briefing
Note, the FRC neither heard nor
provided our Client with the opportunity
to respond to the weighty allegations
that led to the unfounded conclusions
contained therein.
“Above all, it is obvious from your
enabling statute, the Financial
Reporting Council of Nigeria Act 2011, in
particular Sections 7, 8, 11, 25, 28,
58(2) and 62 thereof, the FRC lacks the
authority and the powers to conduct the
investigation it seeks to undertake”.
Subsequent upon the receipt of his
letter, at the end of yesterday’s sitting,
Mr. Obazee announced that the panel
had been suspended till further notice.
Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria
(CBN), Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi on
Thursday shunned the Financial
Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC) panel
sitting in Lagos, accusing it of bias,
against the rule of law and in bad faith.
The Council had invited Sanusi alongside
the deputy governors of the apex bank
to appear before it yesterday as part of
the ongoing investigations into the
activities of the CBN. The deputy
governors are Mr. Kingsley Moghalu,
Alhaji Suleiman Barau, Mr. Tunde Lemo
(who recently retired as deputy governor
of operations) and the acting governor
of the central bank, Dr (Mrs) Sarah
Alade.
Also invited to appear before the council
were the Managing Director, Bank of
Industry (BoI), Ms. Evelyn Oputu, Mr.
Babatunde Dayo and Gabriel Okpeh.
Information Nigeria reports that while
every other invitee showed up at the
Elephant House venue of the sitting, the
suspended CBN governor and Alade did
not show up.
Sanusi, in a letter written on his behalf
by his counsel, Kola Awodein (SAN) said
“Whilst our client is not averse to an
objective investigation by an appropriate
and impartial authority into the
activities of the CBN during his tenure
as governor, or into his own activities as
a citizen, our client is constrained to
decline the FRC’s invitation on the basis
of bias, breach of the rules of natural
Justice, absence of statutory power,
violation of the rule of law, and conduct
prejudicial to good public administration
and the special position of the Central
Bank of Nigeria”.
The letter, which was dated March 25,
2014, and addressed to the executive
secretary and Chief Executive Officer,
Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria,
Mr. Jim Obazee, said “Our Client received
the letter of March 14, 2014 from the
Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria
(FRC), wherein he was invited to appear
and explain his involvement in the
activities of the CBN between 2011 and
2012. We refer to our client’s response
of March 16, 2014 to the FRC, by which
he sought clarity on the specific
activities of the CBN sought to be
investigated, to which he is yet to receive
a response.
“Our client was thus surprised to see the
FRC’s advertorial on page 51 of This Day
Newspaper and page 34 of the Punch
Newspaper (as well as other newspapers)
on March 24, 2014 inviting him in
respect of the same subject matter. We
take the view that this advertorial is in
bad faith, just as it is calculated to
embarrass and disparage our client. We
are also of the firm view that this
advertorial is evidence of an avowed
intent to act prejudicially.
“At all events, it is appalling that our
client is now being invited after the FRC
had arrived at false and malicious
conclusions in its Briefing Note dated
June 7, 2013 to the President (Briefing
Note). Those conclusions include:
‘Incompetence or acting outside the
object clause of the CBN; Nonchalance;
Fraudulent activities; Wastefulness;
Abuse of due process and Deliberate
efforts to misrepresent facts’.
“It is evident from the foregoing
conclusions and recommendations that
the FRC has pre-judged what it now
purports to investigate, thereby
compromising the integrity of any such
investigation.
“Moreover, the credibility of the
purported investigation is further
undermined by the fact that in reaching
the decisions contained in the Briefing
Note, the FRC neither heard nor
provided our Client with the opportunity
to respond to the weighty allegations
that led to the unfounded conclusions
contained therein.
“Above all, it is obvious from your
enabling statute, the Financial
Reporting Council of Nigeria Act 2011, in
particular Sections 7, 8, 11, 25, 28,
58(2) and 62 thereof, the FRC lacks the
authority and the powers to conduct the
investigation it seeks to undertake”.
Subsequent upon the receipt of his
letter, at the end of yesterday’s sitting,
Mr. Obazee announced that the panel
had been suspended till further notice.
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