CBN LOANS TO BANKS: Falana wants Soludo, Sanusi probed

If he has his way, Lagos lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, would want two former governors of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, probed over loans the apex bank advanced commercial banks in the country under their watch.

To this end, the human rights lawyer said he would soon approach the courts to apply for an order of Mandamus to force the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to investigate the deposits and loans granted to commercial banks by them.

Falana, spoke on Sunday at a dinner organised by the Senior Staff Club of the University of Ibadan in honour of its members that were given appointment by the federal government, adding that the loan ran into trillions of naira from 2006 to 2011.

Falana had previously insisted that Prof. Charles Soludo, and present Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, both former governors at the apex bank, had questions to answer over their tenures at the financial institution.

Read also: Falana disagrees with NBA, demands prosecution of arrested judges

According to him, efforts have to be made to know if the money has been paid back in view of claims by the government that the nation is broke.

Continuing, Falana said its was unacceptable to say the country is broke when there are monies given out as loans or deposits that are yet to be accounted for.

Giving the breakdown, he said a former Central Bank governor (Soludo) gave out $7 billion to 14 banks in 2006 without going through the parliament, while another CBN governor, (Emir Sanusi) also gave out $5 billion and in 2011, reportedly paid “N2.5 trillion to economic saboteurs while all that was appropriated by the parliament was N245 billion”.

Speaking on the purpose of the night’s event, Falana said: “This university used to be one of the greatest in Africa and as matter of fact, in the 70s and 80s, it was the University of Ibadan radical scholars that subjected any idea from the seat of power to critical analysis.

“Unfortunately, that is no longer the case and I think we must bring back the lost glory of this university. Right now, neo-liberal scholars and agents of imperialism are calling the shots in our country.

‘’I expect the University of Ibadan to join issues with the government to know whether we are really broke or we are talking about a case of gross mismanagement of our resources.
“Please join us in an ongoing struggle by the Akotiletas in our country to sell whatever is left of our national assets, including the most lucrative business in Africa today, the LNG which has generated $33.2 billion”, he stated.

By Timothy Enietan-Matthews….

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