Former President Goodluck Jonathan has dismissed allegations that $49.8 billion went missing during his tenure as the President of Nigeria.
Jonathan made this statement in Abuja on Thursday while speaking at the launch of a book by Dr. Shamsudeen Usman, the former Minister of Finance and National Planning, who served in his administration.
Jonathan acknowledged his respect for the views of the author but expressed disagreement with certain contributions made by the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), now Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II.
Specifically, he refuted Sanusi’s claims that approximately $50 billion went missing from the CBN during his administration.
“Let me 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.
“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 $49.8 billion, till today I am not convinced that the Federal Government lost $49.8 billion,” he said.
Forensic Audit on the Allegations
Jonathan further explained that a forensic audit had proven the allegations to be baseless, and the figures quoted by the former CBN governor were inaccurate.
He noted that the budget for that year was around $13 billion, making it implausible for such a large sum to go missing without detection.
Jonathan added that the independent forensic report found that $1.48 billion was unaccounted for, and recommended that the NNPC should deposit the amount into the Federation Account.
“That year, our budget was $31.6 billion. So for a country that had a budget of $31.6 billion to lose about $50 billion and salaries were paid, nobody felt anything. The researchers that wrote this book need to do further research.
“More so, when our revered royal father came up with the figures, first $49.8 billion, later $20 billion and later $12 billion. I don’t even know the correct one.
“Immediately that happened, we commissioned Price Water Coopers (PWC) to do a forensic audit.
“The report they came up with was that $1.48 billion that they couldn’t provide an account for and NNPC should pay that money into the Federation Account.
“They did not say we lost $12 billion, $20 billion or $49.8 billion,” Jonathan added.
More Insights
On his part, Sanusi who also contributed a remark at the event, jokingly greeted Jonathan as his boss who sacked him but held him in high esteem.
“My boss who sacked me. I was constructively dismissed. I know everybody wants me to respond, but I will not respond. I have respect for my boss,” he said.
Sanusi, however, advised Nigeria to maximize the Dangote refinery instead of frustrating it.
“Instead of grabbing this opportunity, we are frustrating it. This is due to vested interests,” he said.
