by Ifeoluwa Dada

Thus, the statement credited to Dr. Reuben Abati, (Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity) along the line that “the President appointed Sanusi and he can remove him” if true, is unfortunate and ill-advised. Perhaps, it is better for political appointees, regardless of academic status, to seek and obtain sufficient legal advice on issues of law before passing comments on those issues.

A lot of euphoria has trailed President Jonathan’s suspension of the CBN Governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. While the Federal Government had announced that

Mallam Sanusi had been “suspended” to allow it conduct investigations into alleged breaches of accounting standards and financial recklessness, the revelation that the President, on the same day the suspension was announced,” has forwarded the name of Godwin Emefiele of Zenith Bank to the Senate for consideration as Sanusi’s replacement, is an indication that the “suspension” might indeed be a removal. What is the state of the Nigerian law on suspension/removal of a CBN Governor?

The law governing the establishment and operation of the Central Bank of Nigeria (“CBN”) is the Central Bank of Nigeria (Establishment) Act, Cap C4, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 (“the CBN Act”).  Section 8 of the CBN Act provides for the appointment, qualification and remuneration of the Governor and Deputy Governor of the CBN.

Section 11(2) of the CBN Act provides as follows:

“The Governor, Deputy Governor or Director shall cease to hold Office in the Bank, if he

(a)       becomes of unsound mind, or owing to ill-health, is incapable of carrying out his duties;

(b)       is convicted of any criminal offence by a court of competent jurisdiction except for traffic offences or contempt proceedings arising in connection with the execution or intended execution of any power or duty conferred under this Act or the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act;

(c)        is guilty of a serious misconduct in relation to his duties under this Act;

(d)       is disqualified or suspended from practising his profession in Nigeria by order of a competent authority made in respect of him personally;

(e)       becomes bankrupt;

(f)         is removed by the President:

Provided that the removal of the Governor shall be supported by two-third majority of the Senate praying that he be so removed.

It is trite law that where the words of a statute are clear and unambiguous, it should be given effect as it is and there should be no venturing outside by introducing extraneous matters that may lead to circumventing or giving the provision an entirely different interpretation from what the law makers intended it to be. This is entrenched principle in our jurisprudence and has been reiterated by the apex court, the Supreme Court of Nigeria in several cases including Unipetrol (Nigeria) Plc vs. E.S.B.I.R (2006) 8 NWLR (Pt. 983) 624  at 636, paras. A -C; Toriola vs. Williams (1982) 7 SC 27; Nigerian Army vs. Dodo (2012) 18 NWLR (Pt. 1331) 151 at 166, paras. E – H; to mention a few.

The CBN Act does not provide for the suspension of a CBN Governor, hence, by the Act, the President has no powers to suspend him except the Presidency can show that, by certain terms and conditions in his letter of appointment, as provided under Section 8(1) of the CBN Act, the President derived such powers.

It is the law that public servants do not hold their offices at the pleasure of the Federal Government; rather, their appointments are based upon rules and regulations, statutes or memoranda of appointment and the Federal Government cannot act in respect of those servants except within and under the powers conferred on them by the relevant statute. See the cases of Central Bank of Nigeria vs. Igwillo (2007) 14 NWLR (Pt. 1054) 393 and Olaniyan vs. University of Lagos (1985) 2 NWLR (Pt. 9) 599.

In the Igwillo case, the Supreme Court held that, because the relevant CBN Staff Manual provided that, before an employee of the Bank is suspended, a prima facie case of a serious nature must have been established against the staff member by a court or by an Investigation Committee and CBN failed to comply with the said manual before suspending the Respondent, the suspension of the Respondent was null, void and of no effect.

The CBN Act explicitly provides for circumstances under which the Governor of the Bank may cease to hold office. None of those circumstances has been shown to exist in respect of Mallam Sanusi. While the President may remove the Governor of CBN, he can only do so upon being “supported by two-third majority of the Senate praying that he be so removed”. That is the law.

Thus, the statement credited to Dr. Reuben Abati, (Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity) along the line that “the President appointed Sanusi and he can remove him” if true, is unfortunate and ill-advised. Perhaps, it is better for political appointees, regardless of academic status, to seek and obtain sufficient legal advice on issues of law before passing comments on those issues.

Politics aside, it is incredibly necessary that the President ensure that, our laws are complied with, at all times, for our democracy to endure. Otherwise, Nigeria would be seen as declining into anarchy and irreversible impunity led by the Federal Government. Moreover, by the Oath of Allegiance taken by the President and contained in the 6th Schedule to the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the President undertook as follows:

“… I will discharge my duties to the best of my ability, faithfully, and in accordance with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the law …., I will not allow my personal interest to influence my official conduct or my official decisions”

In the light of the foregoing, I urge the President to display the requisite leadership and toe the legal path on this matter.

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Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.