Drama as former Nigerian President tackles Emir Sanusi over missing $49 billion oil money

Drama as former Nigerian President tackles Emir Sanusi over missing $49 billion oil money

Former President Goodluck Jonathan addressed the longstanding allegation of over $49 billion in missing oil revenue during his tenure, stating that the claim is unfounded.

His remarks came on Thursday at the launch of the book ‘Public Policy and Agent Interests: Perspectives from the Emerging World’, co-authored by Dr. Shamshudeen Usman, a former Minister of Finance in his administration.

The accusation regarding the missing funds was originally made in 2014 by then-Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Muhammad Sanusi II, who is now the Emir of Kano and contributed to the book.

Sanusi claimed that the controversy over the missing funds was a factor in his dismissal as CBN governor.

During the book launch, Jonathan, who chaired the event, emphasised his agreement with the book’s themes but firmly rejected Sanusi’s assertions regarding the missing $49 billion.

He argued that it was implausible for such a significant sum to be misappropriated without noticeable repercussions for a nation whose budget at the time was approximately $32 billion.

Jonathan recounted an encounter with former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, where he reiterated that such a vast amount could not have vanished from a struggling economy.

He also noted that Sanusi’s narrative shifted over time from $49 billion to $20 billion and eventually to $12 billion, which he interpreted as evidence of the initial claim’s inaccuracy.

Jonathan said: “Let mention that I did not agree completely with some issues raised by one of the contributors. But I don’t intend to join issues because he is our royal father. And he is here.

“The one he raised that he was sacked because he blew a whistle that the Federal Government lost $49.8billion is not quite correct. He was not sacked, he was suspended because the Financial Reporting Council queried the expenditure of CBN. And there were serious infractions that needed to be looked at. That was the reason. But somehow, the time was short. So before we finished, his tenure elapsed. Probably, he would have been called back.

“On the issue of $49.8billion, till today I am not convinced that the Federal Government lost $49.8 billion.”

Jonathan also highlighted that an investigation by PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) concluded that there was no evidence of the alleged missing funds.

The audit revealed that while $1.48 billion could not be accounted for by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) at that time, it did not support claims of a larger theft.

Additionally, he recalled that a Senate Committee on Finance, chaired by Senator Ahmed Makarfi, conducted its own inquiry into the matter and found no basis for the allegations.