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Jonathan was right in sacking Sanusi as CBN Governor – Ganduje
BY NICHOLAS ABE
Kano State governor Abdullahi Ganduje, with the benefit of hindsight, says former president, Goodluck Jonathan, was right in sacking deposed Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, as governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in 2014.
Sanusi was suspended from office a few months to the end of his first term of five years and never returned until June, when eventually his tenure ended.
He was accused, among other things, of embarrassing then President Jonathan, following the leakage of a private memo he had written to the president, where he accused the nation’s oil giant, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), of not remitting close to $50 billion public revenue from oil sales into the Federation Account.
Sanusi’s allegation, according to reconciliation led by then Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, was found not to be true as he reversed the figure downward severally and was subsequently suspended from office.
Ganduje, who spoke in Abuja on Tuesday at the presentation of a book in honour of former President Jonathan titled, ‘Dear President Goodluck Jonathan (An Open Letter),” written by a former Managing Editor of the Daily Times Newspaper, Bonaventure Melah, said he dethroned Sanusi, in March 2020, to save the Kano traditional institution from abuse.
He also revealed that Sanusi was appointed the Emir of Kano in 2014 to spite Jonathan, who literally sacked him as the Central Bank Governor for alleging that $49 billion was missing from the public coffers.
Ganduje said Sanusi was not the best man for the throne at the time he was appointed in June 2014, adding that he was sustained on the stool despite widespread protests because he had the backing of the former governor of Kano, Rabiu Kwankwaso’s administration.
Faulting Sanusi’s public outburst on the alleged fraud perpetrated by the NNPC, Ganduje said the ex-CBN Governor ought to have discussed the matter privately with the former President, who in turn could have ordered an investigation into the allegation.
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The governor praised Jonathan for sacking the former central banker, noting that the allegation of missing money was not honourable.
He stated, “Sanusi was appointed Emir of Kano not because he was the best man for the throne but to retaliate what Jonathan did to him. That was in order to prove that what Jonathan did to him was wrong and that the people of Kano wanted their son as Emir and therefore, they decided to appoint him as Emir.
“But when he was appointed, there was a lot of demonstration with people burning tyres here and there. But because of government backing, he was sustained on the stool.”
Narrating why he dethroned Sanusi who constantly criticised some of his policies, Ganduje said: “When I became governor, I said, ‘yes, the Jonathan medicine is an important medicine.’ That medicine, even though I am not a medical doctor, but that medicine would serve the same purpose, for the same disease and the same patient.
“So, I took my ‘Jonathan medicine’ and decided to save the system, to save the institution and I applied it effectively. So, Jonathan and I are on the same page. Actually, I have no regrets.”
Ganduje described Jonathan as an angel for conceding defeat without pressures in the 2015 presidential election.
“I agree with those who call you an angel for conceding defeat. I salute you for that. You have made a name not just for yourself, but for Nigeria, Africa, all developing countries, and for democracy. So, I salute you.”
He also commended the former president for revolutionising the almajiri school system, saying, Boko Haram succeeded because the terrorist group had the almajirai base for easy recruitment and indoctrination.
“But we salute you for what you did in that regard. We are multiplying the new model of almajiri schools in Kano. That is an important legacy you left for us,” the All Progressives Congress (APC) governor said.