Sanusi: - I will resign if...

[Muhsin]

Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Sanusi Lamido Sanusi said yesterday that he will resign from office if his decision to remove the Managing as well as Executive Directors of five big banks turns out to be wrong.

He said this in Abuja in response to questions from newsmen at a press briefing soon after a meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). He said at the meeting that CBN has approved in principle the establishment of an "Asset Purchase Facility Fund" for effective liquidity injection and credit easing targeted at specific areas of the economy.

CBN had sacked the Chief Executive Officers of Intercontinental Bank Plc, Oceanic Bank International Plc, Afribank Plc, Union Bank of Nigeria Plc and FinBank Plc on August 14 for leading their banks to award bad loans to the tune of N780 billion. CBN also injected N420 billion into the banks, while the affected CEOs have been charged to court for contravening several banking laws.

Asked if he will resign if his decision to remove the CEOs turns out to be wrong, Sanusi said, "Yes. But I have no doubt in my mind that the decisions we have taken are decisions that were taken based on an objective analysis of the facts." He said the banking examinations that led to the removal of the bank chiefs were done jointly by CBN and the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC).

He said, "Each bank had ten examiners - five from CBN and five from NDIC. After the report came, they were looked at by the Director of Banking Supervision of the CBN and the Director of Banking Examination of the NDIC.

"The banks and their representatives had the opportunity to discuss with these Directors some of those findings. There were exit interviews in which the EXCOs were told what the findings were. The report came to a Deputy Governor of CBN, Mr. Lemo, who did a further quality check. It was after that that the reports were presented to the Governor of the CBN and the Managing Director of the NDIC.

"The committee of Governor of CBN and the EXCO of the NDIC reviewed these reports and agreed that these banks were in a dire situation before the Governor made recommendations to the Board of Governors of the Central Bank.

"We are all human beings; are we above making mistakes? No! If there was a mistake, if there were fundamental errors, as Governor of Central Bank I will take personal responsibility and if I have to resign, I will resign.

"But I have no doubt in my mind that if I looked at a bank and I see that it is heading towards failure, I have the responsibility of the Nigerian people to take whatever action I consider to be appropriate."

He said the fear of making mistakes is what stopped many people from acting, and in not acting, "you will end up in a more serious situation."

Sanusi also said, "Were there mistakes in this process? I am sure there will be one or two mistakes, there will be one or two errors and people have already raised one or two minor typographical errors to discredit the entire process.

"There will be mistakes, there will be human errors. Fundamentally, I think the decisions we have taken were the correct decisions for Nigeria and the Nigerian financial system and for the country in general."

He said of the remaining fourteen banks in the country, eleven have been audited and that if any of them were found in the same situation as the troubled five banks, more money will be created to give them liquidity support. He said the N420 billion injected into the affected banks were convertible loans and liquidity support and not a bail-out.

"We are committed to protecting deposits and creditors. Which means if we find another bank in a great situation and we believe that if we allowed it to continue in this stage it will fail, we will put in whatever financial support the bank requires to make sure that deposits are not put at risk", he said.

"Our primary focus is stability and confidence in the system. We will pursue those who we feel are responsible for placing that institution in that state. The question is if we find any bank in that situation and if we find another bank in that situation, we will deal with it in that manner. Whether a bank is likely to be in that situation I have said nothing", he further said. He said CBN does not require any appropriation from the National Assembly to create money to inject into the economy.

The Governor said the focus of CBN is not to sell the five banks. He said he went to the United Kingdom to tell the good news about Nigerian banks. "We did not go to UK to sell banks. All we have been saying is for core investors to invest in the banks. Core investors could be foreign or local. There is no law that stops foreign banks from owning Nigerian banks. We will not preclude foreign banks from owning Nigerian banks", he said. He also said reforms going on in CBN are not an indictment on his predecessor Professor Chukwuma Soludo.

The Monetary Policy Committee yesterday left the MPR unchanged at 6 percent per annum and also maintained the interest rate corridor at +/- 2 per cent around the MPR.

http://www.news.dailytrust.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5454:sanusi-i-will-resign-if&catid=46:lead-stories&Itemid=140

[Jibo]

I respect the ma fa! I pray that he has no fallen itno Nigeria politics and the usual hunting spree!
Weldone Muhsin!

[Dan-Borno]

lamarin dai gashi ga kamarsa, we have seen his beginning
muna fatan dai zata dore har zuwa karshenta.

[Jibo]

Allah Ya sa kar a kwata na su Ribadu da Maigidanshi!

[Muhsin]

Sai dai Allah ya kiyaye; amma the atmosphere looks... :-X

Pessimism simply takes the air.

[Jibo]

Amma dai in Sunusi ya yarda an kai amfani da shi to ... dole ne ya kare mutuncin zuriyarsu da gidansu! Ba su gaji ai mafani da su wajen siyasa da cimma burin da ba Allah a cikinsa ba! Kuma abin da yake nema ai Allah Ya bashi ba 'yan siysasa ba; musamman in ka san yadda aka nada shi da kuma wanda turawa suka so a nada!