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| Jonathan |
Jonathan to tread softly on his reported plan to force the Governor of
the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, to
resign, because of the impact such will have on the nation's economy.
In a statement issued in Lagos on Thursday by its Interim National
Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said asking the
CBN Governor to step down, on the basis of a mere allegation that he
leaked the letter he wrote to the President, over the unremitted $49.8
billion oil revenue, does not bode well for an economy that is already
on crutches.
It warned that any move to suspend Sanusi and use security forces to
prevent him from entering his office, as reported by the media, will
even be worse, because it will mean that the President is willing to
circumvent the provision of the law that the Governor of the CBN can
only be removed by two-thirds of the Senate membership.
Not only that, APC said, suspending Sanusi will be a replay of the
damage that President Jonathan did to the judiciary when he suspended
Salami until his retirement, and he could easily re-enact such
scenario if, for example, he feels that the INEC Chairman has offended
him.
''Our worry here is that the President should not destroy our
institutions before he leaves office,'' the party said.
It said the party's main reason for commenting on the planned removal
of Sanusi, either through forced retirement or via suspension, is the
impact that a crisis of confidence between the President and the CBN
Governor will have on the nation's
economy.
''These include a loss of confidence in the economic management of the
country, leading to uncertainty among domestic and foreign investors;
as well as pressure on the exchange rate as foreign portfolio
investors in government bonds and the stock market make their exit,
and the corresponding fall in the value of share prices.
''Overall, a protracted standoff between the President and the CBN
Governor will spell bad news for economic growth and employment and
increase poverty. This is why we advise President Jonathan against
precipitating a crisis in the economy, and we urge all Nigerians to
advise him against such,'' APC said.
The party said there was nothing wrong in a CBN Governor alerting the
President to any discrepancy he may have noticed in the remittance of
revenue from oil, which is the mainstay of the economy, adding that
such action is expected from any CBN Governor who is worth his salt.
It said there is no reason to believe that Sanusi leaked the letter he
wrote to the President, especially because the CBN Governor wrote the
letter in September and the letter was not leaked until December.
''It stands to reason that if the CBN Governor had wanted to leak the
letter, he had no reason waiting for four months to do so. Also, the
moment the letter was sent to Mr. President, it has gone beyond the
purview of the CBN Governor, and anyone with a reason to do so could
as well have leaked the letter.
''Therefore, for the President to have made the extraordinary move to
force out the CBN Governor, even though he has a few months to the end
of his tenure, smacks of vendetta and is capable of impacting
negatively on the economy. Circumventing the law to force out the CBN
Governor will amount to brigandage and reinforce the perception of the
Jonathan Administration as one with a propensity for impunity,'' it
said.
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