-Central Bank Grants Request
NIGERIA’s Central Bank has responded positively to a request by civil rights lawyer, Mr. Bamidele Aturu, for the total monthly payments made available to the Bank’s Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, making the Central Bank one of the first government agencies in Nigeria to act with respect the recently enacted Freedom of Information bill.
According to the Central Bank, Mr. Sanusi is entitled among other renumerations to N25,000 per day for his daily trips around Nigeria.
The bulk of Governor Sanusi’s earnings, including the cost of foreign trips, was however not disclosed, a development Aturu had said he was “not completely satisfied with”.
Aturu had, through a letter dated December 31, 2012, requested for the information on the strength of the Freedom of Information Act.
The legal practitioner had also sought to know how much was Sanusi’s monthly impress and the cost of his trips within and outside the country.
However, the CBN, in its reply to Aturu’s request, through a letter dated January 16, 2013, by the apex bank’s Director/Legal Adviser, Legal Services Department, S.M Onekutu, cited a pending case as the reason for declining to release the details of Sanusi’s total remuneration.
“The governor is entitled to N25,000 per night as incidental allowance on his local trips,” Onekutu said, responding to part of Aturu’s questions.
On why the cost of Sanusi’s trips abroad, could not be disclosed, Onekutu merely said, “The governor’s entitlement is as approved by the Federal Government”.
On Sanusi’s total remuneration, the letter read in part, “The governor’s remuneration is as stipulated by the Board and approved by Mr. President in accordance with Section 8(3) of the CBN Act.
“Besides, the governor’s emolument, and indeed, the emolument structure of the CBN is benchmarked against the Banking industry as approved in the Federal Government’s White Paper on the Presidential Committee on Consolidation of Emoluments in the Public Service.
“However, we are unable to release the details at the governor’s alary and allowances as that information is already subject of litigation in Suit No FHC/L/CS/016/2011: Uzoegwu F.O .C Vs CBN & HAGF. The matter is an appeal and it will be prejudice to comment on it.”
The CBN further said its boss occasionally used chartered planes to travel within the country “as dictated by exigencies” but said time was too short to release detailed information on it.
Though Aturu commended Sanusi for not ignoring his request as many Nigerian public officers would have done, he said he would give time for the CBN to add up its figures on some of his requests yet to be answered satisfactorily.