Former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan and Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II, the Emir of Kano, were publicly seen together for the first time in a decade on Thursday, marking a significant moment in their relationship. The two were at the book launch of Public Policy and Agent Interests: Perspectives from The Emerging World, edited by former Finance Minister Shamsuddeen Usman.
This event is notable because, in 2014, Sanusi, then Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), was suspended by Jonathan after he raised concerns about a missing $49.8 billion in oil revenues under Jonathan's administration. Their conflict led to a strained relationship that has persisted for years.
However, during the book launch, both men set aside past differences and exchanged pleasantries, signaling a potential reconciliation.
In his chapter in the book, Sanusi made reference to the incident which led to his exit from the bank.
The former President, who chaired the event, took yet another time to deny that such humongous amount got missing under his watch.
“I need to say why I did not quite agree with him. All that he wrote was on some of the issues, especially the one that is related to me. The one he raised was that he was sacked because he blew the whistle that the federal government lost $49.8 billion. It’s not quite correct. It was not that he was sacked. He was suspended,” he said.
He said the Financial Reporting Council of CBN, that has the powers to ordain the CBN governor, needed to look at the allegations, but somehow, the time was short.
“So, before we finished, his tenure was already over, well, probably we would have called him back,” he said.
In his speech, Sanusi who was the Special Guest of Honour addressed Jonathan as “My Boss that sacked me”, adding: “I know everyone is expecting me to respond, but I will not respond.”
“When I was told to make a speech, I told Shamsuddeen Usman that I will not speak about my intervention, out of respect for my boss, the President.”
“I feel most inappropriate for this to turn into a debate. It’s not about me or the President, it’s really about Dr. Shamsuddeen Usman today and his book. I always knew my chapter will be controversial when Dr. Usman asked me to write.
“I said, this topic is so similar to my book. You’re making me begin to reveal some of the things that are in my head. In other words, when I wrote that chapter, that’s it for me.
“I’ll make a few remarks. First of all, I continue to respect my President, Jonathan. I do not have any grudges against anyone.”
While noting that the most important thing for him is not about personalities, he said, “I think what comes out of my chapter, like in the book, is something that we all know. Which is that for decades, the Nigerian state has been captive to elites class that sees the state as a site.
“This is a fact, and this is what has destroyed Nigeria. People get into office, and when they get into office, what they’re thinking of is how much they can make out of the state, rather than how they can use the state to serve the citizens. If we agree on that, we have no disagreements.
“Why is Nigeria where it is today? I mean, you referred to the Dangote Refinery. I don’t know what the details are. For a country feeding itself from imported petroleum products, instead of grabbing this opportunity, you know with open arms, we are frustrating it.
“Why would anyone stop us from having the capacity to produce our own refined petroleum products? Because there are vested interests who have profited from Nigeria continuing to import these products.
“They could be all marketers internationally. They could be people locally who have been profiting from these subsidy stamps. And this is the end, because every excuse disappears when you are not getting imported, and you are disembarking.”
He however commended the author for his contributions to the development of nation.
Sanusi said the author was his lecturer and also worked with him in CBN.
The event witnessed the formal unveiling of the Shamsuddeen Usman Foundation (SUF) founded and registered by his children in his honour and dedicated to the promotion of education in the country.
Usman was Minister of Finance between 2007 and 2009; Minister of National Planning between 2009 and 2013; Deputy Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria from 1999 to 2007 and also the pioneer DG of TCPC (now known as BPE).
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