Sanusi
Lamido Sanusi, Nigeria’s Central Bank Governor, appears unable to shake
off a report that he funneled public funds to Maryam Yaro, a married
mistress whom he gave a job at the bank he oversees.
Premium
Times was first to report the scandal in which Mr. Sanusi was accused
of abusing his office in order to advance an amorous relationship with a
woman.
Several sources gathered that Premium Times has been under
intense pressure from associates of the CBN Governor since the expose
was published. In the wake of the report, the CBN also issued a widely
circulated reb*ttal claiming that Ms. Yaro was never a staff of the
bank, that she was employed at Nigeria Incentive-based Risk Sharing
Systems For Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL), and that the governor had no
hand in her recruitment.
But records obtained by SaharaReporters
suggest that the bank’s claims are an attempt to muddle up the facts.
NIRSAL, to which Ms. Yaro is attached, is a special purpose vehicle
(SPV) set up by the Federal Government through a partnership between the
CBN and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture. Besides, the project is
domiciled in the Development Finance Department of the CBN.
It is
the CBN’s human resource department that hires staff for NIRSAL, and it
is Mr. Sanusi who approves all recruitments into the agency, insiders
say.
Records available to us indeed showed that, contrary to the
CBN’s claims, Mr. Sanusi directly and personally approved Ms. Yaro’s
recruitment.
Investigations by SaharaReporters revealed that,
after approving Ms. Yaro’s hiring and sending her file back to the
bank’s human resource department, Mr. Sanusi sent a message to his
mistress on June 25, 2012 saying, “I’m in South Africa. I approved your
recruitment last week.”
Ten minutes later, Ms. Yaro responded: “You have made my day. Thank you so much. Let me know when you are back.”
When the human resource department delayed in sending her appointment letter, Ms. Yaro contacted Mr. Sanusi to complain.
“I
have not heard anything from CBN since you approved my recruitment,”
she wrote in a July 9, 2012 message. “Is there anything I need to do?”
A
source told SaharaReporters that, following her complaint, Mr. Sanusi
contacted the CBN human resource department urging them to expedite
action on her case.
Eight days later, on July 17, 2012, Ms. Yaro
informed Mr. Sanusi that the human resource department had finally acted
on his instruction.
“Allah nguro, I have been issued my letter of offer,” she said in a message. “Thank you so much. When can I come and see you?”
When
she submitted her acceptance letter to human resource, Ms. Yaro
promptly informed Mr Sanusi and thanked him again for helping her to get
the job.
After Ms. Yaro assumed duties at the CBN headquarters in
Abuja, the human resource department produced a business card for her.
In it she was described as follows: “Dr. Maryam W. Yaro, Nirsal Project
Implementation Office (NPIO), Development Finance Department, Central
Bank of Nigeria.”
Even the documents released by the CBN are clear
as to whether Ms. Yaro could be regarded as a staff of the CBN, and
whether the governor played a role in her recruitment.
For
instance, official memos detailing the processes leading to her
recruitment are marked “internal,” originating from NIRSAL to other
units of the bank. Her appointment letter, written on CBN letterhead,
was signed by Chizoba Mojekwu, director, human resources department of
the bank.
The
CBN’s so-called reb*ttal did not say why its human resource director
would sign an appointment letter for a staff or consultant of another
agency independent of the bank.
In its reb*ttal, the bank provided
evidence of communications leading to Ms. Yaro’s employment in 2012,
but provided none relating to any public announcement of the vacancy she
filled. The law requires that such a post must be publicly announced to
enable interested candidates to apply.
The details show that the
bank treated Ms. Yaro’s employment expressly, with memos between NIRSAL
office and CBN’s top management indicating how Mr. Sanusi endorsed her
recruitment.
In one document seen by SaharaReporters, a helpless
staff of the bank raised concern about Ms. Yaro’s recruitment. In a memo
requesting Mr. Sanusi’s approval of the recruitment, the concerned
staff minuted: “Please approve as prayed above. We should take into
account diversity in future recruitment.”
In approving the
recruitment, Mr. Sanusi dismissed the staff’s concern, and wrote:
“Approved. I think gender is a good basis for diversity here and
candidate is qualified.”
Ms. Yaro’s recruitment process took a
matter of weeks, and she received her letter of offer in July 17, 2012
and promptly communicated same to the CBN boss while also informing him
of her planned date of assumption of duties.
Some sources within
the CBN suggested to SaharaReporters that some of the documents
circulated by the CBN were forged and backdated as a face-saving
measure. However, SaharaReporters was unable to independently confirm
the allegation.
SaharaReporters learned that the details of the
affair between Mr. Sanusi and Ms. Yaro have stirred anger and outrage
within the bank and beyond. Critics have focused on the fact that Mr.
Sanusi, a public officer, traveled on jets funded by taxpayers to keep
appointments with Ms. Yaro at expensive hotels. Until this scandal
broke, Mr. Sanusi was highly respected even if some of his policies,
like doling cash to victims of terrorist attacks in Kano, were
controversial.
Mr. Sanusi led revolutionary reforms in the banks
when he came on board in 2009 and has remained critical and outspoken on
several government policies despite serving in the administration. He
has also repeatedly advocated adherence to the rule of law.
On the
other hand, Mr. Sanusi has had his defenders. Many of these defenders
have brushed aside glaring evidence of misconduct by Nigeria’s chief
banker, instead accusing news reporters who worked on the story of
witch-hunting Mr. Sanusi and attempting to defame him.
Senior
officials of Premium Times said they expected the backlash, even as they
stated that they stood firmly by their story. “We knew the story was
going to shock a lot of people,” said Idris Akinbajo acting managing
editor at the publication. “We were under no illusion that it would take
a lot of time for many to swallow the bitter truth of the revelations
made in the story.” He added, “We have discharged our responsibility of
providing information we believe citizens need in order to hold
officials accountable.
Mr. Akinbajo continued, “Our job is done,
as we will only continue to provide additional information as
necessary. It is left for Nigerians to either demand accountability or
live without it – and so continue to celebrate the indiscretions of
their leaders.”
The executive added: “We stand firmly by our story
and look forward to the moment the CBN Governor will boldly look
Nigerians in the face and say any of the things we reported did not
happen.”
Source: Sahara Reporters
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