I don’t agree with everything Jonathan says –Sanusi

…Says weak laws facilitate money laundering

Controversial Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Lamido Sanusi, has revealed that the law does not mandate him to always agree with everything President Goodluck Jonathan says, stressing that no public office holder has to agree 100 per cent with anyone.

“I do not have to agree with everything the president wants and even now as governor of the CBN, I do not agree with everything the president says. It is not a requirement of my job that I must agree 100 per cent with the president.

“No public officer has to agree 100 per cent with anyone. You see, your job as public officer, even if you are an adviser to the president, is to give a very honest opinion on what should be done.

“You can disagree and it is the maturity of government that people are allowed to hold views that are different. If you put three or five economists in a room, you will have different opinions,” Sanusi argued.

The CBN boss, in an interview with Zero Tolerance Magazine published by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), said he was convinced that all former chief executive officers of the acquired banks currently facing prosecution would be brought to justice. Sanusi added that the convictions of the former bank chiefs would serve as deterrent to other public office holders to carry themselves with decorum.

Speaking on the incessant reported cases of money laundering, he said the kind of laws operated in the country support such. “Some of the money laundering activities are being facilitated by the kind of laws we have,” he argued.

“We have an Exchange Control Act today that says you can take out any amount of dollars from Nigeria as long as you declare at the ports. People walk out of airports with $3 million after declaring it. That is the law; it allows them as long as they declare it and we cannot stop them.”

Speaking on the donations he made to victims of Suleja and Kano bomb blasts, Sanusi again argued that the CBN Act empowers him to make such monetary donations. “In 2002 when the Lagos bomb blast occurred in Ikeja, the CBN gave a donation of N10 million through the then CBN governor, Joseph Sanusi.

Sun