In this report GEORGE AGBA examines the recent directive issued by President Goodluck Jonathan, suspending the introduction of the N5000 note against the background of an age long feud between the National Assembly and Central Bank Governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi.
President Goodluck Jonathan last Thursday announced the suspension of the controversial N5000 notes being dangled like a carrot by Central Bank Governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. But beyond the suspension lyrics, questions as to whether the president took the decision because he saw the futility of the policy or he was out to assuage angry Nigerians and also save his head from any impending face off with the National Assembly have continued to trail Jonathan’s pronouncement. Suspension of an action is, however, not synonymous with discontinuance of that action.
Reports last Friday indicated that Jonathan has eventually succumbed to the outcry of Nigerians and the whims of the legislative arm of government by reversing the earlier endorsement to the proposed Naira policy by CBN. Confirming the president’s directive to Sanusi stopping the introduction of the N5000 note temporarily, presidential spokesman, Dr Reuben Abati in a statement said, “The introduction is being suspended for now to enable the CBN do more enlightenment on the issue. Yes, President Jonathan has directed that implementation of the new N5000 note be suspended for now. This is to enable the apex bank to do more in terms of enabling Nigerians to understand why it proposed it in the first place. So, for now the full implementation is on hold”.
Since the CBN announced the introduction of the N5000 note and conversion of lower denominations to coins, It has been a season of bashing and incisive vituperations for Sanusi who had warned in an interview with Financial Times of London less than two weeks after he took the job of the apex bank helmsman that he was ready to face any battle. And to prove a point that he was not ready to tolerate rubbish from whoever would dare to challenge him, the CBN boss took on the federal lawmakers, accusing them of consuming a quarter of the country’s current expenditure.
Speaking at the eight convocation ceremony of the Igbenedion University, Okada in Edo State where he was the guest speaker, Sanusi lamented that if the National Assembly members were allowed to continue the regime of extravagance and wasteful spending, the nation’s economy will totter into an eclipse rather than meeting its target of being one of the 20 largest economy in the world. This pronouncement provoked cultic respect for the CBN boss and public condemnation for the lawmakers. In Sanusi, Nigerians saw a new democratic CBN governor who has come to expose (dishonourable) men and women who lurk under the cloak of honourable members to loot the country dry.
Mad with fury, the lawmakers quickly set up an investigative panel to probe Sanusi over what they described as unguarded and false comments targeted at inciting the public against the National Assembly. Appearing before the panel, Sanusi shocked the lawmakers some more. Rather than the apology they were expecting, he brought out a document which he sourced from the Budget Office. According to him, the document showed that federal government’s recurrent expenditure for 2010 was N536 billion out of which the National Assembly made do with a whopping N136 billion.
Sanusi said, “This is a document of the federal government of Nigeria prepared by the budget office of the federation, endorsed by the Minister of Finance, approved by the Federal Executive Council and submitted to the National Assembly by the president. If these figures are correct, the N136 billion is 25 per cent of the federal government’s overhead”. He stormed out of the chamber, leaving the lawmakers in a state of utter defeat.
But like the saying goes, “he who runs from a fight lives to fight another day”. The legislators, no doubt, were just waiting in the wings to take their own pound of flesh. Immediately after they resumed from their recess, they confronted Sanusi before anything else, describing the introduction of N5000 note as mere sophistry. Senate President David Mark said, “If Nigerians say they don’t want a particular policy at any given moment, there is no harm in government retracing their stance on the issue and I think that is the situation that we find ourselves. I have listened to the arguments from those who support it, but these arguments are simply not convincing. They appear to me to be highly theoretical and technical in nature and they not address any particular issues on ground. Any policy that does not address issues directly but just talking about indices we cannot verify for now should wait.
“We have not reached that level where we are just talking of hypothetical cases all the time. I think the disadvantages of the N5000 notes at the moment far outweigh not introducing it and on balance, we should not go for it. And also from contribution on the floor, we are all in support of the fact that the timing is wrong and the policy is unnecessary at the moment and the arguments being advanced are not convincing and there is no urgent need for it to take place now. There is no ambiguity on our stance on the issue. I am not sure that Sanusi is aware of the constitution. If he was, he would make reference to us before addressing the issue”.
With this declaration, the National Assembly sealed Sanusi’s bid for the N5000 note. In a meeting with the leadership of the two chambers of the National Assembly after their reconvening penultimate Tuesday, following their two months recess, President Jonathan was said to have agreed to overturn any previous executive approval for the policy if it did not reflect the wishes of Nigerians. And true to his words, the president ordered the suspension of the Naira policy.
As it is, the presidency is too much charged with conflicts between it and the National Assembly to allow the Sanusi’s face-off with the lawmakers, following a rematch from an old fight, to compound its woes. Just last week, Senator Uche Ckukwumerije was reported to have threatened to move an impeachment motion against President Jonathan for not removing the Director General of the Bureau of Public enterprise (BPE) over alleged sleaze in the handling of the on-going privatization exercise in the power sector.
Besides, from the House of Representatives, the impeachment axe is still dangling loosely on the head of the president, following what it described as poor budget performance by the executive. Last week, the lawmakers were said to have rejected the 2013 budget on the ground that the 2012 budget must be fully implemented as they had directed. As soon as they resumed from their break, the Speaker of the House, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal was said to have sent the various committees to an inspection tour of all the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to access the work done so far on the 2012 budget.
So, whether the president ordered the suspension of the N5000 note because he sensed that he too might not be spared in the National Assembly/Sanusi face-off, or he saw a bad policy and decided to listen to the outcry of Nigerians, pundits say they are all healthy developments in the country’s democratic process. When a Lion runs and looks back, it is not out of fear, but to enable it gain how much ground it has covered.
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