Excerpts From Presidential Media Chat

President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday said that Mallam Lamido Sanusi was still the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria. Fielding questions from a panel of journalists during the presidential media chat in Abuja, Jonathan said Sanusi would only cease to be governor of the bank if found guilty of infractions levelled against him. He reminded critics of his action that he had absolute powers to do so without recourse to the Senate. The President said he could only revert to the Senate if he intended to sack the governor completely. He added that Sanusi’s suspension was not in any way connected with the alleged $20bn missing funds from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. The President also used the opportunity of the programme aired on national television stations for about 75 minutes to state that there was no time subsidy was removed on kerosene. While answering questions on the continued violence in the North-East, Jonathan also described a statement credited to Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State that Boko Haram insurgents were better equipped than security forces as “unfortunate.” On the Sanusi saga, the President said because he had oversight functions on the CBN, he could not close his eyes against infractions in the bank as revealed in the report of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria. He said it was not necessary for him to approach the Senate before suspending Sanusi because he could still return to his duty post if cleared. Jonathan said, “The President has absolute powers to suspend the CBN governor. CBN is not even well defined in the Nigerian constitution. “If you look at the Nigerian constitution, Section 153 talks about executive bodies like Federal Character Commission, Civil Service Commission, Independent National Electoral Commission, the Judicial Service Commission and the Code of Conduct. There are about 14 of them; these are clearly defined . The section states that the President appoints but the Senate clears. “For the President to remove anybody, he must go through the Senate. The CBN as the number one bank is not even well defined in the constitution, but the CBN law makes the provision that to appoint the governor,the deputy governors and non-executive directors, the President appoints and sends to the Senate. “But Sanusi is still the governor of the CBN and people must know that. That is why there can never be a substantive governor until the issue is sorted out. On kerosene subsidy, Jonathan said when he was vice -president during the administration of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, he could say boldly that at no time was subsidy removed on the commodity. On the power sector, Jonathan said his administration had performed more than anticipated. He however asked Nigerians to endure some of the challenges associated with the transitional phase. Jonathan disclosed that barring any change in plan, he would formally inaugurate the planned National Conference on March 10. Ahead of the inauguration, the President promised to announce the names of the conference’s chairman, deputy chairman and the secretary on March 3. He said the principal officials would be given administrative staff who would work with them for one week before the formal inauguration. He insisted that the unity of the country remained a no-go area for the conference because he could not preside over the disintegration of Nigeria. He said the conference was not convened out of fear that the country would break up. Jonathan also maintained his stance on whether he would contest the 2015 presidential election, saying, “At the appropriate time, you will know whether I will contest or not.”