Suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, has shunned the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN) probe into the financials of the bank, which began in Lagos on Thursday.
This, however, did not stop the Council from going ahead with the proceedings, as the apex bank was represented by two Deputy Governors and a former Deputy Governor.
The Deputy Governors are Kingsley Moghalu (Administration) and Sulaiman Barau (Corporate Services).
The ex-Deputy Governor of the apex bank at the hearing was Tunde Lemo,
However, newsmen covering the proceedings saw Sanusi zoomed off on sighting them when the proceedings went on break in an ash coloured Lexus Jeep at about 4.00 p.m.
Briefing newsmen during the break, Chief Executive Officer of the FRCN, Jim Obazee, said the probe was part of the Council’s statutory duties to look into financial statements of entities and see whether they complied with the International Financial Report Standards framework or not.
“Don’t forget the process that set up FRC. We are to receive financial statements from entities. Originations are supposed to submit their financial statements to the Financial Reporting Council; they are expected to comply with IFR standards.
“When we receive them, we will now invite them to a formal meeting like this to come and discuss the areas of non-compliance; there after, we will penalise anyone if we see areas where it did not comply.
“If you are a private sector entity, we will report you to the appropriate regulatory body and if you are a public sector entity, we will report you to the appropriate supervisory agencies and ministry which will in turn report them to the President.
“In the case of CBN, the CBN did not report to any supervisory body but to the President and the President receives the report and forward it to us to advise on series of non-compliances.
“So, we looked at the issues that were there and we discovered that the CBN was not reporting based on the financial reporting framework or what we called the Nigerian GAP.
“So, we wanted to know under which frame work the CBN was using, and we also have two questions that the President want clarifications and it is those clarifications that the CBN provided that resulted in the briefing note.
“So, it is an issue that is between the FRC and Mr. President, because it is an advisory role that Section 8 of the FRC Act empowered the FRC to do for the government.
“Now, that government has looked at it, and said rather than just look at the books from outside, it is important to cross check the documentation and we were brought in so that we will be able to advise or liaise with the CBN to have the corrected result for 2012,” Obazee told newsmen.
Highlights of the proceedings included scrutiny of CBN intervention funds to tertiary institutions across the country, the N500 billion intervention funds for the real sector and the N150 million paid to the International Islamic Liquidity Management Corporation (IILMC).
The President, in the letter to the FRC, accused the CBN under Sanusi of releasing funds without approval of the Presidency and the Board of the CBN in the tertiary institutions intervention fund as well as the IILMC’s N150 million.
The FRC also took up the CBN on where the N500 billion real sector intervention funds was domiciled.
Obazee said, “After checking the books of the CBN, we noticed that the sum of N500 billion was paid to the Bank of Industry but while looking at the books of BoI, we couldn’t find the money and the question now is: Where is the N500 billion domiciled?
Responding, Managing Director of the Bank of Industry, Evelyn Oputu, acknowledged that there were certificates that the CBN released the money to her bank, but that the money was still domiciled with CBN.
After several buck passing, the CBN’s trio of Lemo, Moghalu and Barau accepted that the money was being warehoused at the CBN.
The FRC frowned at the reason why the fund was still with the CBN in total disregard of laid down principle of IFR standards where full disclosure was needed in all financial transactions by any entity in the country.
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