Former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has disagreed with the ex-CBN governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, over the alleged missing of $49.8 billion under his administration.
Jonathan was speaking in reaction to recent Sanusi’s claim that he was removed from the role of CBN governor for exposing the missing fund.
However, Jonathan, who spoke to the full glare of the audience at a book launch in Abuja on Thursday, countered Sanusi’s position, insisting that such an amount of money didn’t go missing under his administration.
The ex-president noted, “Let me mention that I did not agree with some issues raised by one of the contributors. But I don’t intend to join issues because he is our royal father. And he is here.
“The one he raised that he was sacked because he blew a whistle that the Federal Government lost $49.8 billion is not quite correct. He was not sacked, he was suspended because the Financial Reporting Council queried the expenditure of CBN.
“And there were serious infractions that needed to be looked at. That was the reason. But somehow, the time was short. So before we finished, his tenure elapsed. Probably, he would have been called back.
“On the issue of $ 49.8 billion, till today, I am not convinced that the Federal Government lost $49.8 billion. And that year, our budget was $31.6 billion. So for a country that had a budget of $31.6 billion to lose about $50 billion and salaries were paid, nobody felt anything. The researchers that wrote this book need to do further research.”
Goodluck Jonathan further noted that he became vindicated when the former CBN governor started to change the narrative around the figure.
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Lamido Sanusi was suspended in 2014 by the former President Goodluck Jonathan-led administration for “financial recklessness and misconduct.”.
This was after the ex-CBN governor caused shockwaves alleging $20bn (£12bn) in oil revenue had gone missing.
However, Nigeria’s state oil firm denied failing to account for the money, saying the claim was untrue.
