On February 20, 2014, President Goodluck Jonathan suspended
Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
This was in the middle of an allegation by Sanusi that over
$20 billion of crude oil revenue was not remitted to the federation account by
the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
Although the government maintained that the suspension was
because of his “financial recklessness”, the general impression was that Sanusi
was being punished for exposing “corruption”.
Sanusi subsequently went to the federal high court sitting
in Abuja to challenge his suspension, insisting that the president had no such
powers under the CBN law.
The governor can only be removed by two-thirds majority of
the senate, according to the CBN Act 2007, but it silent on suspension.
ABORTED COURT BATTLE
Sanusi’s lawyers, Kola Awodein and Abubakar Mahmoud, argued
that he was not an employee of the federal government but that of the board of
the CBN and could not be disciplined by the president.
However, federal government’s lawyers, Fabian Ajogwu and
Mike Ozekhome, argued that the high court lacked the jurisdiction to adjudicate
since it was a labour-related matter that should go before an industrial court.
On May 21, 2014, Gabriel Kolawole, the judge, invoked
section 24 of the National Industrial Court Act 2012 and ordered that the case
be transferred to the National Industrial Court (NIC).
He also said that in line with sections 251 and 254 of the
1999 constitution, the CBN was a creation of the national assembly and that
Sanusi was a public officer.
Since Sanusi was an employee of the CBN by virtue of the CBN
Act No 7 of 2007, the judge declared, he was a public servant and could,
therefore, be disciplined by the president.
Edmonton Harvey Specter, who said he was on president’s
legal team, tweeted this on Friday night after the suspension of Godwin
Emefiele as CBN governor by President Bola Tinubu: “Can the President suspend
the CBN Governor? In Sanusi Lamido v. President & Ors where I was part of
Counsel that represented the President and which was decided at the FHC Abuja,
it was held that ‘While the President cannot remove the Governor, he can
exercise some form of disciplinary control which includes suspension over him’.
The matter was not appealed.”
Can the President suspend the CBN Governor?
— Edmonton Harvey Specter (@oddy4real) June 9, 2023
In Sanusi Lamido v. President & Ors where I was part of Counsel that represented the President and which was decided at the FHC Abuja, it was held that 'While the President cannot remove the Governor, he can exercise some form of… https://t.co/CsLj0aiq0a
“Even though I was on the ‘winning’ side, I wanted Sanusi
Lamido to appeal the Judgement so they could be a declaration on the issue once
and for all by the Supreme Court. Was disappointed when he didn’t,” he added.
Sanusi became emir of Kano while the legal battle raged and
he eventually terminated his case on July 3, 2014.
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