SACKING SANUSI IS POLITICAL - GOVERNOR FASHOLA SAYS...

Governor Fashola spoke to gist circle team yesterday after the
official commissioning of the Lagos Asphalt plant at Imota in
Ikorodu area of the state.
He said the move indicates the Federal Government’s
insensitivity to the harm Nigeria experiences because of
corruption.
He described Mr. Fashola’s removal as a tactical sack,
explaining that, since President Goodluck Jonathan lacks legal
power to actually sack the CBN Governor, he had to resort to
this kind of action.
“I don’t understand this kind of economic management,”
Governor Fashola said. “If the man is going in June, there
must be a sense in which messaging about executive
tampering with the independence of the Central Bank has
economic consequences for investor positioning.
“This is not a suspension. It’s a sack really because it’s only
that there’s no power to sack him, and they have looked and
looked and looked and they have said, ‘We suspend’ . It’s a
sack really. The message you are sending out is that it is
better to keep quiet about corruption.”
Mr. Sanusi has been suspended from the office by President
Goodluck Jonathan with effect since February, 20. He was
attending a meeting in Niger but returned to Nigeria upon
learning of the situation. Security agents relieved him of his
passport immediately upon his arrival.
Mr. Sanusi’s suspension is based on “acts of financial
recklessness and misconduct inconsistent with the
administration’s vision of a Central Bank,” according to the
official letter from the Presidency.