Connect with us

Business

No Buhari! No serious lender ‘ll consider Nigeria for $30bn loan- Sanusi

Published

on

No Buhari! No serious lender 'll consider Nigeria for $30bn loan- Sanusi

Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, has described President Buhari’s plan to inject $30 billion into the nation’s economy by way of external borrowing as wishful thinking. His bombshell was dropped on Friday at an event in Abuja organized by the Savannah Centre for Diplomacy, Democracy and Development.

In a paper which he delivered titled, “A plan to restore confidence, direction and growth,” Sanusi said, “I can tell you for free, if the Senate today approves that we can borrow $30bn, honestly, no one will lend to us. It should be approved and I will like to see how you will go to the international market with an economy that has five exchange rates.

“There is one rate for petroleum marketers, there is inter-bank rate, there is another for money market operators such as Western Union, MoneyGram, there is bureau de change rate and there is a special rate that you get when you call the CBN for a transaction.

“So who will lend you money when they don’t know your exact reserve and exchange rate? I want to see who will lend you money when the Niger Delta bombing of oil facilities is there, when the main source of the loan repayment is oil.”

Not done, Sanusi queried the quality of strategic thinking within the President’s economic team and warned against Nigeria’s new-found romance with China. Said he, “We trust China too much. We need to be very careful. They are killing our textile and other industries and yet they are selling to us.

“The CBN-FGN relationship is no longer independent. In fact, one could argue that their relationship has become unhealthy.

Read also: Frank fights on, claims Oyegun got N10m to make Abdullahi APC spokesman

“CBN’s claims on the FGN now top N4.7tn — equal to almost 50 per cent of the FGN’s total domestic debt. This is a clear violation of the Central Bank Act of 2007 (Section 38.2) which caps advances to the FGN at five per cent of last year’s revenues. Has CBN become the government’s lender of last or first resort?”

Sanusi’s discomfort with management of the nation’s economy comes on the heel of a similar expression by former President Olusegun Obasanjo (OBJ) who also warned against further mortgage of the country’s future via cumbersome loans.

OBJ’s outcry appeared to have ruffled political feathers as there were immediate calls for his administration to be probed for alleged mismanagement of the economy, especially the billions of Naira budgeted for development of the nation’s power sector. Even the House of Assembly branded him the father of corruption for daring to accuse its members of looting the economy.

Sanusi and OBJ have been strong supporters of the Buhari administration and political watchers are keen to see how the President and his team manage the avalanche of negative comments on their administration, especially those coming from perceived close allies.

Meanwhile, Sanusi remains unapologetic of his views saying, “I can’t apologise for being who I am. In the government I served, I did not keep quiet. When I am not serving the government, I cannot keep quiet.”

 

 

Ripples Nigeria…without borders, without fears

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now

Click to comment

0 Comments

  1. Roland Uchendu Pele

    December 3, 2016 at 9:26 am

    “I can tell you for free, if the Senate today approves that we can borrow $30bn, honestly, no one will lend to us. It should be approved and I will like to see how you will go to the international market with an economy that has five exchange rates.”

    Alh. Sanusi has been saying this for quite sometime now, and the CBN people don’t think they should do something about it. This is quite disgraceful.

    • Balarabe musa

      December 4, 2016 at 3:10 am

      Calm down. Institutions and world governments are ready to lend us so they can cage us economically.

  2. Johnson Amadi

    December 3, 2016 at 10:48 am

    This is why the senate will not approve the loan request, because it will be shameful if Nigeria is being turned down after senate’s approval

  3. Margret Dickson

    December 3, 2016 at 10:49 am

    Nigeria needs the full support of Sanusi on going about this dangerous recession, Sanusi is knowledgeable and intelligent, his little contribution is needed at least

    • Nonso Ezeugo

      December 3, 2016 at 1:58 pm

      True talk sanusi speak the mind of this country but buhari will not see reasons with him because he believe in cabinets of lies

      • Emmanuel Alayegbami

        December 4, 2016 at 2:34 am

        You haven’t said something reasonable. What cabinets of lies. Buhari’s cabinets are not Nigeria’s problems but the legislatures and the judiciary and emir Sanusi himself.

  4. Animashaun Ayodeji

    December 3, 2016 at 10:50 am

    If we all keep condemning Buhari and his team, our condemnations won’t get is out of recession, as citizens, there’s nothing wrong in us advising the government. If we join hands together to tackle recession, the quicker we’d get out of recession

    • yanju omotodun

      December 4, 2016 at 1:59 am

      You are right. Lack of patriotism is also our problem in Nigeria. We need encourage and support the government and not lambasting them every time.

  5. Amarachi Okoye

    December 3, 2016 at 1:38 pm

    I see sanusi as a man of wisdom so what ever he says now is the truth and it wil help this country alot

    • seyi jelili

      December 4, 2016 at 2:18 am

      A man of wisdom to you but a brutish and clueless man to me. Sanusi is part of people who destroyed this country. Was he not part of the PDP led government then?

  6. JOHNSON PETER

    December 4, 2016 at 1:42 am

    Sanusi should keep shut. What relevant achievements did he have during his tenure as CBN governor? He should not forget buhari can dethrone him as abacha did to the late dasuki.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

one × four =