Newscenter Media News Former President Goodluck Jonathan has responded to claims made by the 16th Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, in his new book, stating that Nigeria did not lose $49.8 billion during his administration.
Jonathan spoke on Thursday at the launch of the book titled “Public Policy and Agent Interests: Perspectives from The Emerging World” in Abuja, which was edited by former Minister of Finance, Shamsuddeen Usman.
Jonathan expressed his disagreement with Sanusi’s claims, stating that the country cannot lose such a significant amount and still be able to pay salaries. He clarified that Sanusi was not sacked but suspended, and the Financial Reporting Council of CBN couldn’t investigate the allegations due to limited time.
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Jonathan also highlighted the inconsistent figures mentioned by Sanusi, initially $49.8 billion, then $20 billion, and later $12 billion. He mentioned that forensic audits failed to confirm the missing $50 billion, but a report did indicate that $1.48 billion was unaccounted for and should be paid to the federation account by NNPC.
It’s worth noting that this is not the first time this issue has been discussed. In 2014, Sanusi wrote to Jonathan, stating that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had not remitted $49.8 billion of oil revenue to the Federation Account over a 19-month period. However, the NNPC denied this, and a joint press conference revealed that the actual amount in dispute was $10.8 billion.
Despite this, Jonathan requested Sanusi’s resignation, which Sanusi refused, stating that he could only be removed by two-thirds of the Senate. The Senate later stated that the $49.8 billion oil funds were not missing.
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