Central Bank Governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi has said that he did not mind stirring up controversy concerning the way Nigeria is managed and governed if doing so would lead to better governance and transparency.
He made the statement in Lagos on Monday night at the sidelines of an Investor Conference after testifying before the Senate Committee on Finance.
Sanusi testified that $20 billion or N3.2 trillion was unremitted to the Federation account out of $67 billion in crude oil sales. Sanusi also said Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation officials were involved in a kerosene subsidy racket costing the Nation at least $100 million every month.
Sanusi has drawn the ire of senior officials in the Goodluck Jonathan administration who are peeved that Sanusi had the audacity to raise questions over the missing funds. Nigerians are waiting patiently for someone to get to the bottom of this matter. $20 billion is not a small sum compared to the developmental needs of Nigeria.
The management of the NNPC tried to debunk Sanusi’s claims before the Senate, however the Senate is continuing the hearing next week and is expected to take testimony from Minister of Finance, Okono Iweala and Petroleum minister, Diezani Madueke.
Speaking at the controversy Monday evening, Sanusi said,“I love controversy. Because if you think there has to be a change, and if you think a system needs to be improved, if you get too comfortable with the system, you should ask yourself, what has happened to you?”
“You need to step on a few toes. Annoy a few people. Allow people step on your toes and be annoyed once in a while,” he said.
“And I tell you, we have in this country, tens of millions of ambitious and dynamic hardworking people. What we need is to be able to cross that hurdle of translating the vision into reality. Look beyond the short term, and see the potentials of this country in terms of the demographics, the population, the improving governance, and you will come to realise that this is one of the best investment destinations in Africa,” he told the investors.