Former President Goodluck Jonathan, on Thursday, said contrary to reports, only $1.48bn was unaccounted for, by the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC and not $49.8 billion, as alleged then by former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), now Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi.
The former president who absolved his administration of blame for the alleged missing fund during his time in office, after Sanusi blew the whistle, challenged the narrative of the missing $49.8 billion, also disclosed that he never sacked Sanusi, but only suspended him to allow for an investigation into alleged infractions under him at the CBN.
He made the disclosure during the public presentation of a book, “Public Policy and Agent Interests: Perspectives from the Emerging World,” edited by his then Minister of Finance and National Planning, Dr, Shamsudeen Usman.
Jonathan said, “Sanusi could have been recalled if his government had enough time. Till date, I did not believe such an amount was lost during my presidency, as this could have resulted in the inability of the government to pay salaries, because the country’s budget at the time was $31.6 billion.
“It is imperative to set the records straight. After the initial $49.8 billion allegation brought up by Sanusi, it was later revised down to $20 billion, and later to $12 billion, which put him at a loss as to what the actual figure was”, he said.
He further added, “Although I agree with Shansudeen’s perspective, I did not quite agree with the perspective of one of the contributors, especially on the accuracy on account of his experiences in service and his personal interactions with me under my administration.
“I don’t intend to join issues with him, because he is our royal father. I know he will read the book and there’s a need for me to state why I disagree with him, not completely everything that he wrote, but some, especially the one that is closely related to me.
“The one he raised that he was sacked, because he blew a whistle and that the federal government lost $48.9 billion is not quite correct. He was not sacked, but suspended, because the financial reporting council queried the expenditure of the CBN.
“They have the power to audit the CBN and not the Auditor General of the Federation and there were serious infractions that needed to be looked at and that was the reason. Somehow, the time was short and before we finished, our tenure elapsed. Probably, he would have been called back”, he added.
He also said, “On the issue of the $49.8 billion, till today, I am not convinced that the federal government lost such an amount. If the federal government loses such an amount, the government will not be able to pay salaries.
“That year, our budget was $31.6 billion. So, for a country with a budget of $31.6 billion to lose approximately $50 billion and salaries were paid, is questionable. The researchers that will read this book should ask questions.
“So after our revered royal father came up with $49.8 billion, it was later $20 billion, and later to $12 billion. So, I don’t even know the correct one.
“I asked for a forensic audit from one of the best experts, and the report they came up with was that there was one $1.48 billion that they could not give a proper account for and said the NNPC should pay that money into the federation account.”
Jonathan recalled that even the Senate intervened in the matter by directing its financial committee headed by Ahmed Makarfi to investigate it. He said the committee used external auditors, who found nothing except for $1.48 billion, which was unaccounted for, and NNPC was directed to pay it back into the federation account.
The former president said, “Makarfi is still alive and was the senate committee chairman on finance, and immediately that complication came out. The senate directed the finance committee, and they used external auditors to look into it, and they didn’t see any of $48.9 billion, or $20 billion, or $12 billion.
“So, I’d plead that when we are giving an account of our stewardship, it’s good to explain some of these areas so that anyone reading the book will not go with the impression that $50 billion was stolen during the tenure of President Goodluck Jonathan.”
But in his response, Sanusi, who served as guest of honour at the occasion, stated that on the $48.9 billion saga and allied matters, he would not respond to his former boss out of respect.
Sanusi said, “I know everyone is expecting to hear me respond, but I will not respond. When I was told to make a speech, I told Shamsuddeen Usman that I would not speak about my intervention out of respect for my boss, the president.
“I feel most inappropriate for this to turn into a debate. It’s not about me or the president; it’s really about Dr. Usman today and his book. I always knew my chapter would be controversial when Dr. Usman asked me to write.
“But the most important thing for me is not about personalities. I think what comes out of my chapter, like in the book, is something that we all know. Which is that for decades, the Nigerian state has been captive to an elite class that sees the state as a site.
“This is a fact, and this is what has destroyed Nigeria. People get into office, and when they get into office, what they’re thinking of is how much they can make out of the state, rather than how they can use the state to serve the citizens. If we agree on that, we have no disagreements.”
However, concerning the Dangote refinery, Sanusi said, “For feeding itself from imported petroleum products, instead of grabbing this opportunity, you know with open arms, we are frustrating it.
“Why would anyone stop us from having the capacity to produce our own refined petroleum products? Because there are vested interests who have profited from Nigeria if the country continues to import these products.
“They could be all marketers internationally. They could be people locally who have been profiting from these subsidy stamps. And this is the end, because every excuse disappears when you are not getting imported and you are disembarking.
“And these are the kind of instances and examples that we see, left, right, and centre, which continue to get in the way of Nigeria transitioning to a developmental state,” said Emir Sanusi.
