‘I have absolute power to suspend Sanusi Lamido’ – President Goodluck

Nigerians this morning slammed President Goodluck Jonathan over his responses to questions he was asked last night during a media chat session, with some saying his answers portrayed unnecessary arrogance while he made efforts to hide salient truths.

The President had stated that he had absolute power to suspend the Governor of Central Bank, Sanusi Lamido.

He suspended Sanusi last week over some allegations that the latter claimed he was not aware of.

Jonathan also condemned governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State for saying the Boko Haram terrorists currently waging war in his state were more armed than the Nigerian soldiers, saying he could remove the soldiers from the state for one month to know if the governor would remain in office.

"If governor of Borno feels the military are that useless against Boko Haram, I can pull out the military for one month and see what happens there and after I can send the military back to take charge.

The governor should be sensitive in his choice of words. It’s unfortunate,” Jonathan had said.

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, in his reaction, said he expected the President to even show some emotional attachment to the victims of the Boko Haram massacre “I deeply respect the office of the president, but I believe the Commander-In-Chief needs to show some more compassion for the affected families.

The 20 abducted school girls still remain unfound. A word of compassion would have given hope to their families. I’m very sad,” he said on his Twitter handle.

Former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, said Governor Shettima is only asking for more help and more troops from the Federal Government because hundreds more of his people are being killed and abducted everyday by the Boko Haram “and this is the best response that our President can give to him?”

“Are those being killed and abducted not Nigerians? Would this have been his response if 8000 of his own Ijaw people had been killed in the last three years by a terrorist organisation? May God save and deliver Nigeria,” he said in a post attributed to him on Facebook.

Popular rights activist, Biodun Sowunmi, said that though the President’s presentation was better than before, he only ended up drawing himself into more controversies over the sack of Sanusi.

He said the President goofed as he should have declined commenting after being told that Sanusi had gone to court since it would be subjudice.

He also carpeted the President for saying he had the power to suspend Sanusi, because according to him, the only way he could have done that was if Sanusi’s professional body derobed him as stipulated in the CBN Act.

Concerning his response on the carnage in Borno, Sowunmi said he was surprised that President Jonathan had refused to visit the scene like it is done by presidents in other climes, but could utter statements threatening the state governor for his own inability to curtail terrorism as the Commander -In-Chief.

“It is the governor who had been visiting the places and he is rightly emotional,” he said describing Jonathan’s statement as unfortunate.

Sowunmi, who said he was not defending Sanusi, said the CBN Governor acted in line with the constitution that all monies should be remitted to the federation account first, which the NNPC and other related agencies disregarded.

“What Jonathan did with his responses was to try to divert attention from the missing $20 billion,” he added.

President of the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, CACOL, Debo Adeniran, supported Sowunmi, adding that the only area the President responded well was on the National Conference in which he said he did not want to preside over a disintegrating country.

“Every other response was half-truth, borne out of arrogance, justification for insolence, watery and untenable,” he said, adding that the President must remember that nobody has absolute powers as he had claimed.

Wondering why it took the President Sanusi’s whistle-blowing for him to know that Sanusi had committed some infringements, he said the way the President chastised Shettima was a show of arrogance and ploy to suppress the truth instead of working on what the governor said.

He recalled that the Deputy Governors at the CBN were also indicted but that the President chose to punish only Sanusi, saying the President should also step aside for the corruption scandal that has enveloped his government to be investigated.

“Look at the power project that has gulped over $16 billion, look at Arumna Oteh of Securities and Exchange Commission, look at Diezani Alison-Madueke and Jonathan is attacking those who blew the whistle leaving those accused of corruption,” he lamented.

Shettima Yerima of the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum simply said: “it would be shameful if President Jonathan can prove that Sanusi soiled his hands while at the CBN, but if at the end of the investigation, he is not found wanting, and then the President should be prepared for the anger of the north because he molested their son.”

On Jonathan’s reaction to the Borno attack, a Nigerian, Eweje Alli, said: “I saw the interview and was shocked to hear those words coming from the President of a Republic. God help Nigerians.”