The suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mallam Lamido Sanusi, on Sunday described President Goodluck Jonathan as a simple man trying to do well but surrounded by “extremely incompetent and fraudulent” aides.
Sanusi was suspended by Jonathan on Thursday over alleged financial misconduct, an action viewed by many analysts as politically-motivated.
In an interview with the Agence France Presse in Lagos, Sanusi said many of the people advising Jonathan were sycophants, who did not speak frankly about the extent of corruption in government.
He said, “When you sit with the President, he appears a nice and simple person who is trying to do his best.
“His greatest failing obviously is that he is surrounded by people who are extremely incompetent, who are extremely fraudulent and whom he trusts.”
Sanusi also faulted the seizure of his international passport by security agents, claiming that it “was the beginning of infringement on my fundamental human rights.”
Regarding the allegations against him, the suspended CBN chief said when he heard of a report condemning his performance, he wrote to Jonathan in “June or July” asking if an explanation was needed, but received no reply.
But he added that the first time he was formally notified of the allegations was the day (last Thursday) he was suspended.
He argued that it would be too simple to describe his removal as payback for his attacks on the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.
“Since 2009, I have been annoying the government… There are people who think I have the wrong friends; people who think maybe I have not distanced myself enough from people who are seen to be opposition figures,” he further said.
Sanusi argued that the extent of graft in the NNPC might have reached an historic high.
“I think everybody has known that NNPC is rotten. I don’t think it has ever been as bad as this,” he told the AFP.
No comments:
Post a Comment