Suspended CBN Governor, Sanusi, away on official assignment; may be arrested on arrival

Nigeria’s Central Bank Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, who has just been suspended with immediate effect by President Goodluck Jonathan, has been away on official assignment to Niger and might be arrested on arrival at the airport, PREMIUM TIMES can report.

Usually reliable security sources say there are already plans to arrest Mr. Sanusi, when he arrives back at the airport in Abuja, in a bid to stop him from contesting or challenging the presidential directive to stay away from his office.

The governor was suspended in absentia, while attending a three-day meeting of the West African Central Bank Governors.

Our sources say the embattled governor has been hinted by administration insiders, and has now changed his travel plans.

He will now land in Lagos instead of Abuja.

In Lagos, Mr. Sanusi’s associates and friends, led by a former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nasir El-Rufai, are organising to receive him at the airport and block any attempt to arrest him.

Our sources at the Central Bank said Mr. Sanusi is also in company of other Central Bank Officials, including Sarah Alade, the highest ranking Deputy Governor of the regulatory body, whom the president ordered he hands over to.

The Nigeria police as well as well as the Department of State Services, DSS, are yet to comment on the plans to arrest Mr. Sanusi.

The spokesperson of the police, Frank Mba, is said to be in a meeting when our reporter called his office while Marilyn Ogar of the DSS said she was keeping a doctor’s appointment.

Earlier today, the President ordered the immediate suspension of Mr. Sanusi from office, saying his tenure had been characterized by various acts of financial recklessness and misconduct inconsistent with the administration’s vision of a Central Bank propelled by the core values of focused economic management, prudence, transparency and financial discipline.

However, many Nigerians believe the CBN governor was axed because he exposed the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, as an harbinger of corruption and financial mismanagement, diverting huge federal revenues accruing to the nation from the sale of crude oil.

Mr. Sanusi says as much as $20 billion oil money is missing.

The President, in a statement by Reuben Abati, his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, ordered the Central Bank governor to hand over to the most senior Deputy Governor of the bank, Mrs. Alade who will serve as Acting Governor until the conclusion of ongoing investigations into alleged breaches of enabling laws, due process and mandate of the Central Bank.

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President Jonathan appoints Zenith Bank chief as new CBN governor

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BREAKING: President Jonathan appoints Zenith Bank chief as new CBN governor

Published: February 20,2014

President Goodluck Jonathan has appointed Godwin Emefiele, who is the managing director of Zenith Bank, as the new governor of Central Bank.
Mr. Jonathan submitted Mr. Emefiele’s name to the Senate for confirmation Thursday hours after he announced the suspension of Sanusi Lamido as the CBN governor.
The CBN’s deputy governor, Sarah Alade, was named early Thursday as acting governor of the bank.
Mr. Jonathan said if confirmed by the senate, Mr. Emefiele will take over fully as the substantive governor in place of Mr. Sanusi whose tenure elaspes in June 2014.
The president also nominated Adelabu Adebayo as the deputy governor of the bank. Mr. Adebayo is current an executive director at First Bank.
He will succeed Tunde Lemo who retired as Deputy Governor of the regulatory bank in late 2013.
Below is Mr. Emefiele’s profile as published on Zenith Bank’s website.

“He is the Group Managing Director, Zenith Bank Plc, a position he has held since August 2010. Until then he was the Deputy Managing Director of the bank, having been appointed into that position in 2001. Emefiele has been on the bank’s management team since inception and has held various management positions in the bank, including serving as the Bank’s Executive Director in charge of Corporate Banking, Treasury, Financial Control and Strategic Planning.
“Until he took over as Group Managing Director, Emefiele was directly responsible for all the Group’s local subsidiaries, Treasury and Correspondent Banking, and Multilateral, Conglomerates, & Private Banking. He also had responsibilities for direct supervision of majority of the bank’s branches in Lagos and Northern Nigeria.
“Emefiele has over twenty-six (26) years banking experience and holds a B.Sc and an MBA in Finance both from the University of Nigeria Nsukka. Before commencing his banking career, he lectured Finance, Bank Management, and Insurance at the University of Nigeria and University of Port Harcourt respectively.
“He is an alumnus of Stanford University, Harvard and Wharton Graduate School of Business where he took courses in Negotiation, Service Excellence, Critical Thinking, Leading Change and Strategy.
“Under Emefiele’s leadership, Zenith Bank has strengthened its position as a leading financial institution in Africa, winning recognition and getting endorsement at home and abroad for giant strides in key performance areas like corporate governance, service delivery and deployment of cutting-edge ICT as well as impact in the bank’s numerous spheres of operations.
“In 2012, Emefiele’s visionary leadership saw Zenith Bank receiving acclaim from reputable institutions such as world finance, CFI and FTSE Global Markets that have named Zenith the Best in Corporate Governance, Best Commercial Bank in Africa, and Emerging Global Super brand respectively.”

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