The Immediate Past Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the current Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has said that the issues surrounding the missing $20bn oil money has not received adequate attention by the Federal Government.
Sanusi had last year raised the alarm about missing $20bn although the allegations were repeatedly denied by the presidency before he was eventually suspended by President Jonathan for financial recklessness in the discharge of his duties.
An international audit firm, Pricewaterhousecoopers, hired by the Federal Government recently to audit the account of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Following this, NNPC was asked to remit $1.48bn to the Federation Account.
However, the former head of Nigeria's apex bank, maintained during an interview with Christiane Amanpour on the Cable News Network on Wednesday, that the level of corruption in Nigeria's oil sector is still highon the high. He stated that the billions of dollars paid in kerosene subsidy which was not approved by the National Assembly is yet to be accounted for.
“My position in the Central Bank was that there was always this gap of $20bn after reconciliation between what the NNPC exported and what it deposited into the Federation Account. I raised a number of issues that I think have not yet been discussed and addressed sufficiently.
“One of them is the billions of dollars being paid in kerosene subsidies without appropriation by the National Assembly and against a presidential order and we don’t know who authorised those payments and yet no one has owned up to say I authorised the payments, I made a mistake. It must stop. I think those issues need to be addressed and until we address them and begin to close all the loopholes in government revenues, we are going to continue to create opportunity for the destruction of the economy.
“It could be $20bn at the end of the day. After reconciliation it could amount to $14(bn) or $12(bn) and I think these issues reflect unconstitutional and illegal withholding of revenues from the Federation Account.
“The country is paying the price today; oil prices have crashed, the currency has been devalued, the stock market has collapsed, government revenues are in a very bad shape. Whoever wins, whether this government or the opposition, will have to deal with these issues. The petroleum sector is a major drain on the resources of the country and this has to be looked at.”
When asked about the recent threats by Boko Haram to kill him, monarch said, “If I had a way of knowing that if Boko Haram took my life, they would stop killing people in Nigeria, I would give my life. I have nothing else to aspire to, I have achieved.
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