Missing oil money verdict: How would Sanusi be feeling?

Since Thursday, July 10, 2014, I have been wondering how former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and now Emir of Kano,MallamSanusiLamidoSanusi, would be feeling. I have wondered if he would be feeling on top of the world that he’s one of the most powerful traditional rulers in the northern part of the country. Will he be feeling good with himself that after being suspended, as manager of the country’s apex bank, he got another job, as emir, where he has a kingdom and subjects? Will he be gloating that during the government of President Goodluck Jonathan where his ego was figuratively punctured, he rose again, courtesy of the magnanimity of Kano State Governor, Rabiu Kwankwas, who, perhaps, wanted to spite the president with the approved of his choice, to become an emir?
Also, I have been wondering if Sanusi would, since Thursday last week, feel downcast and remorseful? I wonder if he would tender an unreserved apology to the Federal Government, in particular and Nigerians in general, for saying something that has turned out to be untrue. I have been wondering if he would feel guilty that the fire he stoked, with his allegation that there was missing oil money, was unnecessary and not justified. Yes, the Senate committee that investigated Sanusi’s allegation of missing oil money on Thursday last week stated that he lied. I have been wondering how Sanusi would be feeling.
Sanusi, in October 2013, had, in a letter to President Jonathan, alleged that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) failed to remit about $49.8 billion oil revenue into the Federation Account. According to him, the said money was missing and, therefore, there was the need for President Jonathan to institute an investigation into the operations of the NNPC. He had stated, in the letter, that NNPC failed, since 2012, to account for nearly $50 billion in crude oil sales that should, by law, have been remitted to government coffers.
Surprisingly, a few months thereafter, Sanusi had stated that $20 billion was actually missing, as against $10.9 billion, which the NNPC had put forward, as unaccounted, during the reconciliation of the books of the corporation and the CBN. This is, indeed, against the $49.8 billion he earlier alleged was missing. Speaking then at the public hearing of the Senate Committee on Finance, in February this year, Sanusi had stated that since the NNPC had accounted for $10.9 billion, out of the $20 billion he earlier said was missing, the corporation should then explain what happened to $10.9 billion. The question then was: What would Sanusi want Nigerians to believe? Was it that $49.8 billion was missing or N$20 billion or N10.9 billion? The NNPC Group Managing Director, Andrew Yakubu, must have been confused, as many Nigerians, at Sanusi’s change of position, as he had stated, at the public hearing: “He (Sanusi) keeps bringing up different figures all the time and we keep clarifying them. At the end of our reconciliation, I am sure we will be able to explain how $20 billion he spoke about was spent.”
Indeed, at the height of the controversy over the missing oil money, the letter Sanusi wrote to President Jonathan became public knowledge. And the government did believe that the former CBN governor leaked the letter, which was supposed to be confidential. Interesting, many people believed then and still believe at present that Sanusi was suspended, as governor of the CBN because of the missing money allegation, even  when the government said his suspension was owing to the way he handled money, as governor of the apex bank.
To be sure, the Presidency, in explaining the suspension of Sanusi at that time, had challenged the suspended CBN boss to answer questions raised on his conduct in office. The Presidency had stated then, in a statement by Dr. Reuben Abati,  Special Adviser to the President on Media & Publicity: “We have noted with disappointment, the unrelenting attempt by the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, to falsely portray his recent suspension from office, as an attempt by the Presidency to bury his allegation that huge sums of money due to the Federation Account are unaccounted for by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC.”
“The Presidency wishes to reaffirm that Mallam Sanusi’s suspension has absolutely nothing to do with his unproven and inconsistent claims that $49.8 billion, $12 billion or $20 billion is missing from the national treasury.
“It is most unfortunate that instead of trying to provide some reasonable response to clear an unambiguous query of his official conduct as Governor of the Central Bank, Mallam Sanusi  has, cynically, chosen to whip up public sympathy for himself and anger against the Federal Government by deliberately misleading unwary Nigerians and the international community into believing the falsehood that he is being punished for exposing corruption.
“In recent days, the suspended CBN Governor has, following in the footsteps of others, who have an axe to grind with the government, taken to spreading his false claims and allegations through gullible foreign media correspondents, telling them, among other things, that his threat to force commercial banks to open up their books to unravel the whereabouts of the ‘missing’ funds, whether $49.8 billion, $12 billion or $20 billion, ultimately led to his suspension.
“Mallam Sanusi’s allegations are patently untrue. But government is making no effort to bury them, as he falsely claims. Relevant committees of the National Assembly are still investigating the claims and the suspended CBN Governor remains free to give evidence before them in support of his allegations.”
At that time, it was obvious that the government was talking to itself. Not even its approval of forensic audit of the accounts of the NNPC could sway some Nigerians. Not even the setting up a revenue reconciliation meeting among the CBN,  the NNPC, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), the office of the Accountant General of the Federation, the Budget Office of the Federation and the federal ministries of finance and petroleum resources could make Nigerians believe the government. Even when key officials of the organisations issued a joint press statement in December 2013, dismissing the CBN allegation, they could not convince some Nigerians, who were already fixated in their position. Some Nigerians saw government’s position as a lame excuse. They would rather believe Sanusi and the opposition. This was not surprising though. It was natural. People always believe and support the underdogs. Sanusi was seen as the underdog in the perceived fight with the Presidency and, therefore, he had many supporters, the majority who never cared to look at the contradictions and inconsistencies in his position. Was it N49.8 billion that was missing? Was it $10 billion? Was it $20billion? Or what?
However, it appears that the bubble has finally burst for Sanusi, as a Daniel has come to judgment. The Senate has provided answers to the questions on Sanusi’s allegations. The Senate has passed a damning verdict on Sanusi over his missing money allegation. After months of investigation, the Senate finally stated that Sanusi lied, as no money was missing. In its committee’s report, the Senate, which rejected recommendation for the removal of fuel subsidy, stated that part of the contentious $20 billion was the $5.254 billion spent on subsidy for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) by the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), which was covered by the Appropriation Acts of 2012 and 2013. It also stated that the $3.512 billion spent on kerosene subsidy, as certified by PPPRA for January 2012 to July 2013, was still part of the $20 billion. Finally, the Senate report stated: “There was never any unremitted $49.8 billion,” adding: “The committee could not see how the figure of $49.8 billion was arrived at by the former CBN governor, in the first instance.”
Now, with the Senate verdict, my previous question still subsists: How is Sanusi feeling now that the Senate has disproved his allegation of missing oil money? Well, whatever he feels, the fact remains that the Senate, as a body, has cleared the air. And if we would take the laws that the Senate makes, including the amendment to the constitution and these laws remain binding on Nigerians, the Senate position on the missing oil money allegation is, therefore, the subsisting position of things. This is besides the suspicion of Nigerians about government. Nigerians should rather believe what the Senate, made up of elected representatives of Nigerians, many of them distinguished, says than what one man, whose claims has been proved wrong, want them to believe.
The lesson to learn from this is that unsubstantiated allegations can never become truth, no matter how hard it is pushed or the sentiment therein. Those who find themselves in positions of authority, especially in sensitive ones, should mind what they say, as people tend to believe them, even when they are not right. By Sanusi’s position then, Nigerians were wont to believe him. But now, his allegations have been cleared. The NNPC and the Jonathan government have, therefore, been cleared on this score. It’s obvious that some people would still doubt the Senate, especially those whose sentiment no reason can erase, this can’t change the situation. There’s corruption in government quite alright, just as it exists in other sectors, but allegations should not just be by mere saying it. There has to be substance. Labelling someone or an institution corrupt, so that people would, overwhelmed by sentiment, look at  them with odium, is a great disservice.
While we wait to see what Sanusi would do, I am persuaded that the least expected of him is an apology. For government, it has a lot to do to make Nigerians believe what it says. This is so because, what the Senate said now is the same thing the committee set up by government said months ago. The government must work to ensure that  Nigerians trust it, rather than taking the position of some rabble rousers, as the gospel truth.