Lamido Sanusi has called for Nigeria to have fewer MPs

'Nigeria's House of Representatives speaker has
threatened to order the arrest of the central bank
chief and 14 others over the fate of $8bn (£5bn).
The office of speaker Aminu Tambuwal said he had signed
arrest warrants for Lamido Sanusi and the other officials'.

The warrants will be executed if they fail to appear before
MPs to explain the whereabouts of money allegedly owed to
the treasury, a spokesman said.

Mr Sanusi said he was unaware of the warrant and denied
any wrongdoing.

He is widely respected in banking circles in Africa and the
West. In 2011, he was named the Central Bank Governor of
the Year by the global financial publication, The Banker.
'Nothing personal'
Earlier this month, he called for the size of the House of
Representatives, the 360-member lower chamber, to be
reduced to free up money for development.
He also called for the number of public servants to be cut
by half.

Mr Tambuwal's spokesman, Imam Imam, said other officials
for whom warrants have been issued include Andrew
Yakub, group managing director of the state-owned Nigeria
National Petroleum Corporation's (NNPC), and National
Pension Commission Director-General Muhammad Ahmad.
He said MPs would enforce the arrest warrants if the
officials failed to appear before a parliamentary committee
to account for the money.

The officials apparently have until Thursday to appear
before MPs, reports the BBC's Chris Ewokor from the
capital, Abuja.

The warrants were issued because the 15 officials are
accused of refusing to honour several invitations to explain
to MPs the alleged failure to transfer about $8bn to the
treasury, he says.

However, a police spokesman told our correspondent he
had no knowledge of the warrants.
Mr Sanusi told the BBC he was out of Nigeria, but the
deputy governor would appear before MPs.

He said he was unaware of an arrest warrant for him.
"I personally don't believe the speaker signed such a
warrant as these things are not personal," he said.
Mr Sanusi said the Central Bank of Nigeria has made
remittances to the treasury in accordance with the law.
"Our accounts are audited by two reputable external
auditors...

No government agency or department even
comes near our contribution to the budget," he said.
Nigeria is Africa's biggest oil producer, but most of its
population lives in poverty.
Critics say corruption is endemic in the government and
there is a lack of financial accountability.

Source:- m.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-20699924