Dasukigate: CBN boss, Emefiele should be probed, Bakare says

Fiery pastor and General Overseer of the Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare has called for the probe of Godwin Emefiele, in view of the startling revelations of the $2.1b arms deal in which the CBN became the conduit pipe for appropriating funds for personal use.

Bakare spoke on Sunday in his state of the nation live broadcast during church service.

Justifying the need for the probe, Bakare said a vital part of the CBN Act which should check the bank’s excesses has been expunged.

“To the discerning, the CBN currently contributes negatively to the Nigerian state in more ways than one. Firstly, the CBN has become a conduit for politicians to drain the nation. Otherwise, how can a letter of barely two paragraphs addressed to the current CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, by the then National Security Adviser(NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd.), become the Authority to Incur Expenditure (AIE) leading to a cash flow of $47 million and several millions of Euros? In decent climes, the CBN Governor cannot continue in office while the NSA is accounting for his alleged misdeeds.

“Secondly, another negative contribution by the CBN is the needless obscurity it has created regarding currency in circulation. It was not so in the past. For instance, Section 43 (2) of the CBN Decree (now Act) No. 24 of 1991 stipulates: “Without prejudice to the provision of Section 1 of this section, the President may direct the Auditor General of the Federation to conduct an examination of the Bank and submit a report thereon relating to the issue, re-issue, exchange and withdrawal of currency notes and coins by the Bank and the Bank shall provide all necessary facilities for the purpose of the examination.”

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The CBN, he declared, “belongs to the people of Nigeria, not the Governor and staff of CBN. Our foreign reserves could be used to drive infrastructural development with a view to building a strong local industrial base and ensuring a solid financial services sector rather than for political and unaccountable misadventures. It is important to add that, rather than mere devaluation of the naira, a strong local productive base that widens Nigeria’s foreign exchange window is the lasting solution to the lingering currency crisis, especially the shortage of the dollar relative to the naira.”

In view of economic difficulties confronting the nation, Bakare advised both the Federal and state governments to reduce the cost of governance by reducing the number of political appointees and what they earn.

“If we are serious about sound financial management, a more significant reduction in the size and cost of running government will be required than this present administration has been able to effect. The government re-sizing process has been hampered by structural anomalies and constitutional constraints. For instance, of what use is a bloated legislature that could potentially gulp 25 per cent of the entire national recurrent budget?”

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