A group with significant influence is advocating for the reinstatement of Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) amidst the emergence of Tinubu’s presidency Vanguard News report.
Sanusi, who is well-versed in risk management in banking, has the support of Kaduna State Governor Nasiru El Rufai, who has the attention of President-elect Bola Tinubu.
During Sanusi’s tenure as CBN governor from 2009 to 2014, he demonstrated strong and independent leadership, which ensured financial market stability, particularly after the 2008/2009 global financial crisis. Moreover, the value of the Naira remained stable at around N155 to $1 for four years.
Tinubu, an experienced accountant, is inclined to a new monetary management system combined with sound fiscal policies to reinvigorate the national economy upon his inauguration on May 29. Sanusi is regarded as a competent technocrat with a robust character capable of reforming the banking/financial sector.
However, the economy reportedly lost N20 trillion between January and March 2023 due to a slowdown in economic activities, stifling of trading activities, contraction of the agricultural sector, and the rural economy’s paralysis, according to the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, a think tank.
It is worth noting that Sanusi was previously suspended by former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration after alleging that $20 billion in oil revenue had gone missing. He told a senate committee that of the $67 billion of oil sold between January 2012 and July 2013, $20 billion had not been accounted for.
While the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation dismissed the claim as unfounded, it claimed that the allegations showed “little understanding of the technicalities of the oil industry.”
Sanusi is highly regarded for implementing reforms in the banking sector since his appointment in 2009 and was named the Central Bank Governor of the Year for 2010 by Banker magazine. He has vowed to challenge his suspension to protect the CBN’s independence.
The uncertainty caused by his suspension resulted in the suspension of foreign exchange, bond, and money markets. According to the BBC’s Will Ross, Sanusi’s accusations threatened to expose high-level fraud in Nigeria’s notoriously opaque and corrupt oil sector, as Nigeria is one of the world’s largest oil producers. Sanusi commented at the time that anyone who challenges the oil sector is “striking at the heart of the vested interests that control the Nigerian state,” and should be prepared for the consequences.