Fasehun: 'Sanusi Neither Considers The Economy Nor Banks' Shareholders'

* Being the text of a speech delivered by Founder and President of the Oodu'a People's Congress (OPC) during a press conference at Century Hotel, Okota, Lagos, at the weekend.

I called this Press conference to review the Central Bank of Nigeria's recent action against some prominent banks, bank executives and their investors. Of the 25 banks that survived the mandatory N25 billion recapitalisation, the CBN Governor has declared five insolvent and incompetently managed. They are Union Bank, Afribank, Finland Bank, Oceanic Bank and Intercontinental Bank. The banks were said to have been owed bad loans totalling about N747 billion (about $5.1 billion).

Governor of the Central Bank, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, said he has injected N420 billion (about $2.6 billion) to bail out the affected financial institutions.

But many Nigerians like me cannot forget the fact that just last March, Vanguard Newspapers exclusively reported that some faceless interests planned to take over five banks. Initially, we took the story with a pinch of salt. But the benefit of hindsight has bestowed upon that Vanguard's report an uncanny degree of accuracy, because not only did it pinpoint the five target banks to be disgraced, it also identified the future CBN Governor that would undertake the job.

Now that the newspaper's prediction has materialised, the public will like to know if this whole affair were not a carefully scripted secret agenda. In the light of the newspaper's accurate prediction five months ahead, can we resist the urge to say that these banks and their executives were simply sitting ducks for a well-schemed frame-up."?

Apparently, this insinuates that the CBN has not told us the whole story. Our private investigations, for example, showed that the Federal Government itself owes Nigerian banks about N3.2 trillion (about $220 billion). These uncleared government debts certainly compounded the problems of the banks. The Government also owed local contractors over N1.5 trillion; many of these represent loan obligations these contractors have been unable to discharge.

So, does the government really have the moral right to cast stones? It would be wiser for the Federal Government to lead by example and first liquidate its own debts before pointing fingers at "fellows partners in debt." Maybe for all these unpaid government debts, the CBN should go ahead and hand over the Accountant-General, the Auditor-General of the Federation and the Minister for Finance to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as well.

Curiously too, all the loans that the CBN has taken to the cleaners are private loans. What about the various bonds and loans that State Governments sourced from the capital market and the banks, why has the CBN not addressed them?

Moreover, what is wrong with borrowing? The United States is the world's biggest debtor with trillions of dollars indebtedness to virtually every institution including the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and even the United Nations. Its whole economy, like those of other developed nations is built on credit. This is because no nation develops or industrialises with 'cash-at-hand'. There is no way young men like Jimoh Ibrahim, Femi Otedola, Pat Utomi and Aliko Dangote employ the great number of people they have employed without solid bank backings.

Curiously too, we find that the five indicted banks are headed by Southerners. In view of this, we will caution the CBN to refrain from fanning the embers of Northernisation, which the Umaru Yar'Adua's administration appears to be pursuing since inception.

Sanusi has remained unapologetic and unrepentant of his ethic chauvinism. In the past, he has said of the Igbos, in a newspaper article titled, "Issues in Restructuring Corporate Nigeria," that: "The Igbos themselves must acknowledge that they have a large part of the blame for shattering the unity of this country."

Having said that this nation must realise that Igbos have more than paid for their foolishness, he said in the same piece: "The Yorubas, , the greatest obstacles to nation-building, are the Yoruba Bourgeoisie, I say this also to underscore my point that until they change in this attitude, no conference can solve the problems of Nigeria. The country cannot move forward if the leadership of one of the largest ethnic group continues to operate, not like statesmen, but like common areas boys."

And on Afenifere he declared: "A Syllabus of Errors, , the problems of this country have a lot to do with the shift in power away from the Fulani to individuals like Babangida and Abacha, products of lower cultures. The Fulani of the North, proud of the history of the establishment in Nigeria - Ahmadu Bello, Murtala Mohammed, Aminu Kano, Shehu Yar'Adua, Shehu Shagari, Jibril Aminu. They are sad that other Nigerians do not know the difference in ethnic background between say, Murtala Mohammed and Ibrahim Babangida."

Information at my disposal also showed that the between January and April this year, all the banks borrowed N8.7 trillion from the CBN, the country's lender of last resort. That makes all the banks equally liable.

So, if the five banks under investigation borrowed only N800 billion out of the gross N8.7 trillion released by the CBN, which other banks owed or borrowed the balance of about N7.9 trillion? Why have they been spared? And why should the CBN deal with a general problem instalmentally? Let the CBN tell the whole world where its N8.7 trillion went.

The CBN Governor should have handled the present scandal administratively and internally. Financial markets are naturally fragile and sensitive and require the apex bank's reinforcement, and not erode confidence.

The CBN Governor should be temperate and mild, and his first line of action should have been to give the affected persons the benefit of doubt. After all, these executives have not been accused of personally embezzling the funds in question. It is rather unfortunate that the CBN is criminalising routine commercial transactions.

Granted that the Central Bank carried out an independent audit of the banks, it should have followed due process by inviting the bank executives to defend themselves about the result of such auditing. CBN should never have gone public ab initio.

Moreover, the steps taken so far raise fundamental questions. As the Federal Government has released N420 billion to the ailing banks, do we regard the injected fund as a loan to be repaid or a grant to prepare them for the government's virtual take-over? Where does all this leave the shareholders? Who protects the shareholders and their interest especially in a situation where the Federal Government goes ahead to fulfill its threat to bring foreign investors to buy the concerned banks? Would it not make more sense to accord shareholders first-line bids? Or is the Government saying that the country, with nationals in leadership positions at the World Bank and IMF, cannot get suitable Nigerians capable to run the banks profitably? Moreover, we wrested our economic independence from foreigners through such policies as the Indigenisation Act, is it wise now to sell ourselves back through the backdoor to new foreign interests? Or could it be that the foreign interests are masquerading for faceless Nigerians? The shareholders have been completely ignored in the whole process, when they should have been called to an emergency meeting where they would have democratically elected another Board.

Well-meaning Nigerians like me hope that the Federal Government does not produce a paradoxical result from this unilateral bank regularisation scheme. The entire episode smacks of an exercise designed to cut the nose in order to spite the face and this is dangerous.

The affected banks are employers of labour, having at least 5,000 branches and well over 100,000 people in their employ. In the light of this confusion, the employees' job security cannot be guaranteed. The agitated economy will provoke capital flight and inflict greater damage on the economy than whatever misdemeanours these bankers may have been accused of. Because many of these beleaguered bankers originally founded the concerned banks, their present travails can discourage future generations of investors.

Rather than sack the bank executives, CBN should have borrowed a leaf from other economies that have similarly bailed out their mortgage, stock-broking, banking and industrial institutions. President Barack Obama injected $700 billion into corporate America and allowed the executives to continue in office. The only debate was whether benefiting American executives should take a cut in their usual fat allowances in view of the injection of public funds. The debate is still going on. I entirely condemn the detention of the bank chiefs by the EFCC. They should be released to enable them work out creative and feasible modalities for revamping their banks and liquidating the offending loan facilities.

Banks may have problems but the CBN appears to have over-amplified the situation. The world over, financial institutions are going through a rough time. In Europe, Asia, America, Australia and other parts of Africa, banks have failed. This was what gave rise to the global economic meltdown. In fact, prior to the CBN exercise, the Nigerian economy was the envy of the world. And experts internationally commended the last administration and the banks for the foresight in recapitalising our banks. But if Nigerian banks fail now, the explanation may simply be that finally, the Economic Meltdown has caught up with our banking industry. How? Larger economies like USA, UK and Japan, most of whom have begun to look inwards for economic salvation, have forced their indigenes to reverse capital flight back home.

On the other hand, if this exercise was designed to please Mrs. Hillary Clinton, then we must point out that she has no way incited us against the rule of law. Like her, we all want an anti-corruption crusade, which we complained had become lukewarm and stale. But in hunting down these bankers, government has pointed the gun against wrong persons.

The CBN exercise is diversionary; it is insensitive; it is hasty, making respectable bankers and shareholders to become scapegoats unjustly. This is unacceptable.

Moreover, have we weighed the implications that this will have on our Re-Branding Project? Virtually, it has smeared the cr�me de cr�me of our economy - the Cecilia Ibrus, the Isyaku Umars, the Hyacinth Enuhas, the Raymond Obieris, the Chris Alabis, the Erastus Akingbolas, the Barth Ebongs and many more. This move indicts not just these bankers, but the public, the government, the shareholders, event he CBN. It tells the international community that even the best of us is a crook and a thief. And this is far from true.

Suffice to say that although some of these controverted loans are inexcusable, a lot of them would have performed if only government had delivered on key economic issues, including, stabilising the Naira, providing electricity supply, pushing through the amnesty deal to secure a viable bridgehead for profitable oil business in the Niger Delta, enhancing Nigerian's buying power by providing employment, ensuring good road networks, fighting corruption, resolving the crisis in the education sector, especially the ASUU strike and succeeding with the seven-point agenda.

On the part of the CBN, what needs its immediate attention are indices that will make the banking industry more attractive, more proactive and more productive, such as outlawing the use of young girls for marketing, taming the legal and administrative charges that usually balloon loans, establishing a regulatory framework for interests and stabilising the exchange rate.

In the present circumstances, the coercive organs of State should act independent of the CBN, which is wearing the toga of the aggrieved party. They way Sanusi speaks of confiscating assets, jailing people, etc, makes him the complainant, the investigator, the Judge and the enforcer. Such autocratic methods are strange to our democratic constitution.

The National Assembly, should as a matter of urgency, pass a motion requiring Sanusi to ensure that existing shareholders are given an opportunity to recapitalise the five banks within a timeframe of not less than 180 days. These banks are public companies owned by several Nigerians. They must not suffer double jeopardy. Their reemptive rights as existing shareholders, which is duly recognised by Companies and Allied Matters Act, Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act, Central Bank of Nigeria Act and the records of CBN must be protected and respected.

The National Assembly should pass a motion requiring Sanusi to follow due process and immediately revoke the removal order on any of the Executives who are not personally culpable. It is wrong to punish people who have not committed any offence. It is repugnant to equity, natural justice and good conscience to dismiss over 30 officers in one stroke without establishing individual responsibilities.

The National Assembly should compel Sanusi to exercise due care in all subsequent actions. The unnecessary drama and bravado accompanying the "reform" has caused a downgrade in Nigeria's credit rating and slowed down economic activity. We have seen other economies, which recently handle more complex and larger interventions in their banks in a more mature manner, without unnecessary costs on their economies.

Conclusion

In conclusion, let us remember that many of these bankers are well known locally and internationally by many institutions and many of them are advisors and consultants to nations and world financial establishments. Nigeria needs them for her own good. They may have made some erroneous judgements, but they do not deserve to be so summarily destroyed; for one experienced horse rider who falls is more valuable than a tenderfoot just learning the ropes. Consequently, we detest the rubbishing of these first-class bankers and we demand their immediate release.

If politicians have been allowed to learn from their own mistakes, bankers and the managers of our economy should not be crucified for making sincere errors in corporate governance.

Culled from the Guardian online: [url]http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/business/article01/indexn2_html?pdate=060909&ptitle=Fasehun:%20%27Sanusi%20Neither%20Considers%20The%20Economy%20Nor%20Banks%27%20Shareholders%27[/url]

I thought so too. Looks like what Government owes combined with what Government contractors being owed by Government makes the allegations relatively minute in comparison. Have you read about the newly appointed CG as well? Lol, we have a lot to think about.

food for thought.

@@@@

we are watchin!!

OPC are idiots. Imagine referencing Vanguards article as empirical evidence of Sanusi's intentions.

Every small thing this idiot would cite tribalism. MEND hits Atlas Cove, him talk say na tribalism. Sanusi sack bank manager, him talk say na tribalism.

These kind of people are dangerous.

don't be myopic. read the above article properly and you will see it makes sense.

if sanusi actually said those nasty things about the igbos , that means the latitude of mind he has is very little. so so myopic . let him take a trip round the world and see for  himself how much the igbos are contributing to the advancement of the world.
i can give him emperical evidences  if he humbles himself to ask for them.

Ibime,

I cant imagine that poeple like you will decide to ignore facts and attack mere sentiments, take a very good like at the bank saga read the article like you studied ABC in your primary class and you will see the point here.

Dont just lunch attack on OPC without considering the truth ok!

Am sure time will show you more insight ok!

Thanks!

OPC are idiots. Imagine referencing Vanguards article as empirical evidence of Sanusi's intentions.

Every small thing this idiot would cite tribalism. MEND hits Atlas Cove, him talk say na tribalism. Sanusi sack bank manager, him talk say na tribalism.

These kind of people are dangerous.


The man is talking sense, if they want to sell the bank to foreigners they should liquidates its assets and give the share holders its or her own share, but to sell to foreigners without the share-holders input is totally wrong .

@ ibime,  wake up, stop being a dullard.

real food for thought

Did Fasehun read Sanusi's comments on Hausa/Fulani too? If he hasn't, I can get him some. I have over 30 of Sanusi's articles on  my system.

Then he will know Sanusi's attack on bad leaders transcends tribe.

Ibime:

OPC are idiots. Imagine referencing Vanguards article as empirical evidence of Sanusi's intentions.

Every small thing this idiot would cite tribalism. MEND hits Atlas Cove, him talk say na tribalism. Sanusi sack bank manager, him talk say na tribalism.

These kind of people are dangerous.

This is the height of brainlessness anyone can show after reading through this article. Did you find time to read through at all? I think you should be extinct without a second thought.

I wonder if you know what you just typed

This is getting deeper than i thought. . hmm!

elchux:

if sanusi actually said those nasty things about the igbos , that means the latitude of mind he has is very little. so so myopic . let him take a trip round the world and see for himself how much the igbos are contributing to the advancement of the world.
i can give him emperical evidences if he humbles himself to ask for them.

Yes, he did. That's what got him the position not by merit at all. This is the link: http://www.nigerdeltacongress.com/marticles/milk_of_human_kindness.htm

Sanusi: I Won’t Bow To Pressure

The sack recently of 5 bank CEOs by the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi shook the financial world. In this interview with TheNEWS Abuja Bureau team of Oluokun Ayorinde, Tony Orilade and Desmond Utomwen, Mr. Sanusi explained why he took the action and vowed never to succumb to pressure in his desire to reflate the Nigeria banking sector

Q: When you announced the removal of the chief executive officers of five banks and their boards last week, the fear was that it would lead to panic withdrawals and a run on the banking industry. From the information available to you so far, what has been the response of the banking public to the CBN action?
A: No, I don’t think there have been major runs on the institutions. It’s natural that when you take a decision as drastic as that, you would expect an initial period of uncertainty and panic. We have tried to build an effective communication strategy in which we made it very clear to major stakeholders that the actions we took were aimed at strengthening the institutions. The irony of a lot of these decisions is that sometimes, the steps you take to protect depositors who were unaware of problems can sometimes end up being the source of concern. The Northern Rock in the UK had a major liquidity problem for example, but the moment they applied to the treasury for money (which actually means that if they get the money they will be able to meet their obligations), there were long queues in front of the bank. So, it’s important to continue letting people understand that the steps we have taken are actually steps that will safeguard the depositors’ funds and that if we had not taken those steps, we believe that ultimately those depositors would have had their deposits threatened.
We have been lucky with the public sector deposits and deposits of the large corporate customers. So far, we haven’t seen any major signs of concern.

Dr. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, CBN Governor. Photo: Femi Ipaye

Q: There are reports that the CEOs appointed for these banks are asking for more bailout funds with the argument that the over N400 billion already pumped into the five banks might not be enough to salvage them?
A: I think there is need to make a distinction between what is generally called a bailout and what we did. What we provided is money that stands in the place of capital which the banks have lost. In other words, a balance sheet item that lies below the obligations of the banks to creditors to make sure that if there is any kind of further erosion to the capital of the bank, that erosion goes to the capital and not to deposits. It’s a high risk exposure than deposit and loan. Now, if the banks need financing in form of a loan, there are other sources of getting it. They still have the inter-bank market, they can still come to some arrangement with the Central Bank which can guarantee a long term loan for them to take; we can even provide them with long or medium term loans. It depends on what the auditors come up with. When the Managing Directors look at their financial requirements, they can tell us ‘please can you help us with two years loan or three years loan. Those are all liquidity support instruments of the type that you have all over the world. What we have done is to provide an underlying funding that will take the place of capital that has been eroded and the capital that we think is likely to be eroded in the short term.

Q: This underlying capital that CBN provided is for how long?
A: That money is permanent money – not in the sense that the Central Bank would remain there permanently, but in the sense that the money will be paid out from the capital.

Q: Would you give the CEOs and the boards of the banks you replaced last week the opportunity of recapitalising the banks if they are able to raise the necessary funds one way or the other?
A: If we found that these people have mismanaged their institutions, and that they were culpable in bringing the institutions to the state that they are, would it make sense for me as a regulator to allow them to come back and run the institutions? It’s not about money. But if we found out that they were not in any way responsible and if they are bringing the capital, we would look at it. At the moment, they have lost their capital, but that doesn’t mean they will not be considered among others because there will be a process – it will be an open and competitive process and the idea will be to ensure that we get the best deals for the banks and for the government. I think we have made enough mistakes by just looking at people who are bringing in money.
Apart from money, what are you bringing in? I think anybody can bring in money. But who is bringing in integrity, who is bringing in governance, who is bringing in trust, who is bringing in best practices, who is bringing in technology? I think those factors are going to be very important in the decision as to who owns the banks.

Q: What will be your rating of the industry now?
A: You know information is extremely important for me. I have serious concerns when we have not fully dimensioned the problem. I am not saying that right now we have a handle on 100 per cent of the problem, but I do know that we have dimensioned the problem in the most extreme cases. I will give you a few examples. It has generally been held that margin loan exposures was in the region of N800 billion to N1 trillion. In these five banks, we have come up with N450 billion. So, we have effectively taken care of 50 per cent of the problem by looking at 20 per cent of the banks. It’s the same 20:80 rule – you’ve got about another half a trillion in oil and gas among these five banks. Now, these five banks among themselves accounted for 90 per cent of the total disbursements that were made in the expanded discount window between October 2008 and July 2009. So, if you apply the simple 80:20 rule, I think in dealing with these five banks, you have dealt with 80 per cent of the problem. And to a larger extent, I think we have done that. Therefore, if we focus on stabilising them, properly funding them and strengthening them, I believe we have dealt with the bulk of the problem in the industry.

Q: Some have also argued that you should have waited till the completion of the total audit of all the 24 banks before moving in on the ones deemed to be sick. Why the rush?
A: There are a number of issues. First, there is the practical question and there is also the question of strategy. The practical question is to place yourself in the position of a medical doctor who goes to a village where there is a rumour of cholera and you go and look at children who have displayed the most severe infection of cholera and you check them and found that they have cholera. You go and treat those children or do you wait until you have tested the entire village before you come back, by which time the children might be dead? This is a practical question. As a professional, I know there are indicators of banks in difficulty – the frequency and consistency of their borrowings from the discount window, the distress interest rate they were offering to depositors, the kind of desperation that we saw among their employees, information hitting the market from different areas, of customers who are having difficulties in taking out large amounts. We have enough information to know that these institutions had difficulty and these were the ones that were most severely affected. That is not saying that there are no other banks with issues. But the issues of the other banks have not taken them to that stage. Now, having sent in an examination team, we found that for four of the banks, each of them has non-performing loans in excess of 40 per cent of their portfolio. Anybody can tell you that by the time you have non-performing loans of 20 per cent, 25 per cent, you are a dead bank. Having seen that, there was absolutely no way I would wait until I finished the auditing. In any case, I have started with these five, and expanded it to the rest of the banks almost in fulfilment of all righteousness.
The second is the question of strategy. A move like this – when you are dealing with individuals that have a lot of money, power, connections and individuals who probably believe that they have a lot to lose if they are not in control of their institutions – has to be accompanied by an element of surprise. So, I deliberately kept referring to an October deadline for completion of the audit of the 24 banks. And in everybody’s mind, I was not going to act until October. But I knew that I was going to move before then. And if they had known that I was going to move early, they would have taken certain steps to stop it.

Q: That is why some critics are saying you want to cause panic in the system…
A: What was my option? If it’s going to be done at any point in time, the risks would always be there. It doesn’t matter whether we do it now or whether we do it in October or next year. The only way you would not have the risk of a problem is to do nothing and since it was important to do it, it is then my responsibility to do it and to manage the communications and the panic to restore stability. The option is to do nothing until one of those institutions actually goes under, when people actually go to the counter and found that they can’t get their money. I mean, the guaranteed inter bank lending opportunity will expire next March; there is limited liquidity in the system. By the time a bank takes N100 billion today, N90 billion tomorrow, when all the banks giving them money run out of funds, where are they going to find money? I have closed the discount window. The loans they have given will not come back – the share prices have crashed. They took a bet – some of them bet their banks because by the time you take 15, 20 per cent of your portfolio and put it in the stock market, you have bet the institution.

Q: Is it right to say the worst is over for the industry?
A: I think the worst is over. I honestly think the worst is over. I think we have turned the corner. At least, we have people there now and we’ve come to understand the nature of the problem and we came up with solutions immediately.

Q: Is it not necessary to liaise with the National Assembly in arriving at this decision you have reached?
A: No, it is not. The CBN Act places the responsibility for these decisions squarely on the Governor of the Central Bank when he is satisfied that any institution is in a great danger. But even though I am not obliged to liaise with the National Assembly, I did have a private meeting with the Senate President and I kept him fully briefed.

Q: You said in one interview that if the CBN had acted sooner, this problem may not have cropped up. Is this not an indictment on your predecessor?
A: I am not sure it is an indictment. We will only assume that in the judgment of the governor at that time, the banks were not in grave danger. That’s the only assumption that one can make and nobody could interfere with that judgment then because the law says it is for the governor to make that judgement. So, if the governor at that time did not arrive at that judgment, he was not obliged to act.

Q: There are fears that some of these debtors, especially the importers of petroleum products, may go under if the new management of these five banks move in on them.
A: I don’t understand. If they have the money, they should pay back. If the loans are due, the loans should be paid. The banks and these loans have put customers’ deposits at risk. Unless the suggestion is that the Nigerian people should pay back these loans. If you have a hole – a customer has taken loan from a bank and he has not paid – that hole has to be filled if the bank has to survive. It’s either that those who borrow the money pay back or we put in the money. So would you rather the Nigerian people paid that price while the borrowers walked away?

Q: Don’t you think this sanctioning of the five banks may further contract the amount of credit being extended to players in the economy, as the financial institutions may become too cautious in extending loans and other facilities, especially to operators in the small and medium segment of the economy?
A: That’s true. In the UK today, the government and the Chancellor of Exchequer are complaining that banks are not lending. The Chancellor had meetings with banks and even threatened to take them to the competition committee for not lending to small and medium enterprises. It is a natural immediate reaction that there is a sudden flight to safety. So, I am not naïve. I am not going to think that the moment we finish this audit, they will start lending, but I do hope that when they do come back to lend, they will lend more responsibly.
Having said that, it then imposes a higher burden on fiscal policy of the government. Because if credit is not expanding, then we need to ensure that there is an increase in government spending so that the economy does not go into contraction.

Q: Won’t increased spending by government put more pressure on inflation rate?
A: I am not sure that inflation today is a major concern. The rate of inflation is on a downward trend. It comes down at the end of July to 11.1 per cent year on year. Money supply growth has actually been in the negative, so we don’t have any issue with excess liquidity. We are coming to the harvest season and that will bring down food prices and when food prices come down, it has a moderating influence on the rate of inflation. So, the pass-through effect of exchange rate depreciation has been fully accounted for because we did not have a massive depreciation in the last few months and the major decisions happened early in the year. Costs of transportation have come down because of reduced cost of petroleum products, so the cost push inflation from imports has not been extremely high. So, for all these reasons, I believe that the primary concern of the moment should be to ensure that the economy keeps growing and I think we can spend and reflate the economy in a non-inflationary manner.

Q: There was this report in one newspaper that the Managing Director of a Dutch bank was involved in the auditing of the banks. How true is this?
A: I saw it and I was very surprised because I don’t know where that came from. They also mentioned a company that we’ve never met. The audit of the banks has been done and is being done by examiners from the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, NDIC. We have five CBN examiners and five NDIC examiners that go to each bank. And their reports were considered and reviewed by the Director of Banking Supervision of the Central Bank and the Director of Bank Examination of NDIC. At the end of that review, there is a further quality check by Deputy Governor Tunde Lemo of the Central Bank. It is based on these three levels that the reports have been given jointly to the Governor of Central Bank and the Managing Director of NDIC and all the actions we have been taking have been agreed upon jointly. We both agreed that these actions are necessary and are in the best interest of the people.

Q: These examiners of NDIC and the CBN you are talking about have always been there. Is it that they have not been asking the right questions in their past audit of these banks?
A: There are a number of issues. There is need to strengthen what we call consolidated supervision. Substantial part of some of the issues you see were done outside the bank itself – through subsidiaries. So, that is a learning point for regulators.
The second issue obviously is the need for risk-based supervision. If we have a risk-based supervision framework in place, anybody looking at the discount window would have been put on alert that there was the need to check certain things relating to certain banks, especially given the fact that the liquidity stresses came at the time of the global meltdown. And we know that the global meltdown has affected Nigeria through two key channels – the oil price channel and the Foreign Direct Investment, FDI, outflow channel – which led to the crash in the stock market. Now, it would have been very clear that the problems of the banks were related to their exposure to the capital market and the oil market. So, this was the hypothesis that we worked on and the fact borne out by the examinations.

Q: The former Managing Director of Oceanic Bank, Cecilia Ibru, reportedly said she was not given a fair hearing by the CBN and that her bank was not properly examined before the CBN hammer descended. What is your reaction to this?
A: First of all, I don’t know what she meant by not being given a fair hearing because I have not levelled any allegation against her. So, what did she say I did?

One thing I know about Nigeria is that nothing is really as it seems initially.

this sanusi is a snake.  

Jarus:

Did Fasehun read Sanusi's comments on Hausa/Fulani too? If he hasn't, I can get him some. I have over 30 of Sanusi's articles on  my system.

Then he will know Sanusi's attack on bad leaders transcends tribe.

Post them please.

if, according to Sanusi, the igbos shattered the unity of this country . . . why then is Sanusi and his ilk PERSISTING with one nigeria? Isnt this hypocrisy?

I am a Yoruba but I've never had any respect for OPC. As far as I'm concerned, OPC is a group of criminally minded thugs. Fasheun has never seen anything with a broad mind. What has he achieved as a medical doctor and who is he trying to save with his OPC? an educated man that descends to such a level and sees every thing from the point of tribalism deserves no space in the public but this is Nigeria where like Charly Boy show, anything can happen and mediocrity is celebrated to high heavens.

Should someone who has made sly comments about various ethnic groups in Nigeria be trusted with their governance?. How do you think Sanusi will treat a Southerner compared to a fellow Northerner if he is biased against southerners?

davidylan:

if, according to Sanusi, the igbos shattered the unity of this country . . . why then is Sanusi and his ilk PERSISTING with one nigeria? Isnt this hypocrisy?

My Brother, many Northerners are no longer investing in Southern Nigeria, and many that I know personally are selling assets like Real Estate that they own in the South. I think Becomerich has infected man, and don't be too sure that Nigeria will remain as it is in 2015 as predicted by CIA. In a way, with the impunity that Yar'Adua is nominating only his people without regards for federal character, it may be a sign of a last looting spree.

larez:

My Brother, many Northerners are no longer investing in Southern Nigeria, and many that I know personally are selling assets like Real Estate that they own in the South. I think Becomerich has infected man, and don't be too sure that Nigeria will remain as it is in 2015 as predicted by CIA. In a way, with the impunity that Yar'Adua is nominating only his people without regards for federal character, it may be a sign of a last looting spree.

Guy are u sure about this

Fasheun Article:
Never been a big supporter of OPC, but boy did he hit the nail on the head. Good for him. His opinion represents a moderate and middle of the road assessment of most informed Nigerians.
I hope Ohaneze Ndigbo will speak in a similar fashion on this all important national issue.

Sanusi interview:
The guys doesn't sound as dictatorial as he pronounced the 5 CEOs corrupt, sinful, guilty, punishable, etc. However, the most striking comment was the one about money not being the issue.

"Q: Would you give the CEOs and the boards of the banks you replaced last week the opportunity of recapitalising the banks if they are able to raise the necessary funds one way or the other?
A: If we found that these people have mismanaged their institutions, and that they were culpable in bringing the institutions to the state that they are, would it make sense for me as a regulator to allow them to come back and run the institutions? It’s not about money. But if we found out that they were not in any way responsible and if they are bringing the capital, we would look at it. At the moment, they have lost their capital, but that doesn’t mean they will not be considered among others because there will be a process – it will be an open and competitive process and the idea will be to ensure that we get the best deals for the banks and for the government. I think we have made enough mistakes by just looking at people who are bringing in money.
Apart from money, what are you bringing in? I think anybody can bring in money. But who is bringing in integrity, who is bringing in governance, who is bringing in trust, who is bringing in best practices, who is bringing in technology? I think those factors are going to be very important in the decision as to who owns the banks.'

This guy sees himself partly as a moral/religious leader, Fulani ethnocentric politician, a reformer, prosecutor, enforcer, and lastly a banker. He must be stopped.

Someone once said, and I forget who: "Power corrupts, absolute power, corrupts absolutely.

@Akigbemaru,

Your papa and your midget mother are idiots. Yeah, being a Yoruba statesman, he has right to talk about MEND's vandalism, I have told you that before, then I said it again. Sanusi's intention is so obscured. Now, he's saying that they are committed to Islamic banking; they will fail if they bring that to Nigeria. The first class bankers got to these positions by the dint of their strivings. Not a stupid opportunist like Sanusi, who read just Sharia Law. Charlatans and nonentity would reck Nigeria. Anyway, last year, America being the largest consumer of Nigerian crude oil flew the first plane without fuel from Houston to NYC. This year again, even the exhibition is currently going on and it would end by Oct. 2009. A commercial bus without fuel, it's powered by hydrogen and electric and it is estimated to finally circulate nationwide in USA by 2015. That tells you, no more dependence on fuel. Then, Nigeria will need to think out of box then.

The first sentence of your above contribution sort of blurrs the rest of the valid and objective points you've tried making. That was uncalled for, in my opinion. We can disagree without necessarily being dis-agreable.

This conspiracy theory is gathering momentum,I guess we just have to be vigilant and watch Mr Sanusi closely

the conspiracy theories will abound whenever there is someone trying to make positive change in a rotten society like ours. I am sure you can figure out those behind the conspiracy theories easily.
to understand sanusi better as a social critic, who now has a chance to put into action some of the thoughts he had expressed previously you can check the GAMJI website where his articles are featured including the one quoted out of context by OPC on Afenifere.

http://www.gamji.com/

you will need to scroll down and see on the right "GAMJI WRITERS"
Then click on "SANUSI L. SANUSI"