Despite proclamations by President Goodluck Jonathan during his Media Chat on Monday that Sanusi Lamido Sanusi remains the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, SaharaReporters has learnt that the State Security Service has withdrawn his security protection.
A source familiar with the action told SaharaReporters that the CBN governor’s security detail was removed shortly after the President concluded the Media Chat.
The strategy seems to aim at exposing Mr. Sanusi to danger arising from the suspended CBN governor’s position on the missing $20 billion at the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
Sanusi’s position began to generate international pressure and embarrassment for the Jonathan government following reports by some western media outlets knowledgeable about the fraud perpetrated by cronies of the President. Those reports continue to say that Sanusi was ousted for exposing the rot at the NNPC.
Adding to the pressure on the government, the Northern Nigeria socio-cultural group, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), has warned that no evil should befall Mr. Sanusi as he continues his outspoken crusade to expose the theft of billions of dollars in oil revenue at the NNPC.
Mr. Sanusi was ousted last week by President Jonathan while he was away at an ECOWAS meeting in Niamey, Niger Republic. Upon arrival from Niamey he was briefly detained by the State Security Service, which later released him but confiscated his passport. The passport has yet to be returned to him.
Strangely at his Media Chat, Mr. Jonathan told his interviewers that Mr. Sanusi, into whose position he appointed an acting official while sending a nominee for substantive replacement to the Senate, is still the Governor of the bank pending the conclusion of an inquiry into the accounts of the bank.
Critics have pointed out that he lacks the legal muscle to single-handedly remove the governor from office. He has the bigger burden of challenging the ethical questions being raised by Mr. Sanusi.
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