Sanusi the Cowboy (The Politically Correct Version)

The CBN Governor's new position is that the funds, not bailouts, were given as loans to the distressed banks. He rightly states that he is empowered (under Section 42.2) to give loans to banks that are unable to raise capital from any other source. This is the lender of last resort role the CBN plays.

In truth, however, the banks must approach the CBN for a loan. And as far as I can tell, this did not happen.

Being a lender of last resort basically means that you are in a position to lend money to an institution that is unable to raise credit from other sources. It is not a status exclusively reserved for central banks, so the suggestion that it carries with it a responsibility for compulsory, pre-emptive action is flawed.

For the CBN, being a lender of last resort simply means that the distressed bank has approached other banks or financial institutions, was unable to get credit, and is now approaching the CBN as a last resort. Simple, when you think about it, isn't it?

The clause that brings the CBN Act into play here is the one that specifies that the bank must be experiencing liquidity problems. When the CBN determines this, it is then empowered to lend money to the distressed bank if it chooses to do so, and under this clause it can set any interest rate, any repayment schedule, etc. What Sanusi is cunningly implying is that once a bank is in distress, the CBN can inject a loan even if no approach has been made by the distressed bank.

According to Sanusi, “the reinforcing provisions of Section 42 (2) of the CBN Act allows CBN to inject capital into any bank facing liquidity problems by way of loans and other accommodation facilities on terms it deems fit, notwithstanding the restrictions imposed by Sections 29 (1) and 34(d) of CBN Act." http://odili.net/news/source/2009/sep/3/313.html

That is a lie.

Only in Nigeria could it be suggested that a fund injection is the same as granting a loan.

What the Act actually says is that "The Bank may grant loans...to any bank which may be having liquidity problems." http://www.cenbank.org/OUT/PUBLICATIONS/BSD/2007/CBNACT.PDF

The banks, since they haven't been nationalised, are still independent entities. So how can Sanusi claim that the CBN has the right to issue unsolicited loans to institutions it does not control? The CBN is empowered to replace bank executives, but no law ever gives the CBN direct control over the affairs of any bank, ever. Instead, the BOFIA states that if the CBN is not satisfied with a bank's current state, it may turn control of the bank over to the NDIC. Quoting section 42 of the CBN Act that says "the CBN may grant loans...to any bank" is a different kettle of fish from saying "the CBN can inject funds into distressed banks ".

The funny thing (not ha-ha funny, but sad-funny) is that the CBN is actually empowered under the BOFIA (section 33.2.b)to require a bank to undertake a certain course of action. All Sanusi had to do was instruct the banks to request for the loans. They would have had to comply.

It's a procedural error, and it's one that shouldn't be swept under the carpet.

The devil's in the details, when he's not fishing for souls (or fish).

But on a more positive note for Sanusi (the sun does shine on a dog's ass some days), he completely annihilated the members of the House of Representatives who invited him to the National Assembly for a question and answer session. How he manged to do this, with half-baked arguments, should be a source of concern to every Nigerian who expects proper representation from their legislators.

INTRODUCING JOHN WAYNE IN HIS NEW ROLE AS NIGERIA'S CENTRAL BANK GOVERNOR

“I had to hurt many in this time. However, I believe that the good fortune in which the entire nation is participating today must richly compensate every single one for what he had to give up dearly on his own part.”

- Adolf Hitler (1935)


Sausi Lamido Sanusi, if I was President of Nigeria, and you acted like this under my watch, I’d arrest you.

Not for diagnosing that the banking sector was in crisis, this was common knowledge. Not for proposing the injection of bailout funds into distressed banks, because the banks needed to be bailed out. Not even for exercising your powers as defined in the Band and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA), even though I feel a little discretion would have gone a longer way.

No, I’d arrest you for the incompetence you have spectacularly displayed so far in handling the events of the past weeks, and your even more spectacularly ridiculous statements.

I say this because you are not a cowboy, you are the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). One of the key roles you are required to play as the regulator of the financial sector is that of building and maintaining confidence.

Do you seriously mean to tell Nigerians that the only way you could handle this matter was to:

1. Go on the airwaves to announce that the sector is in danger of collapse;

2. Announce that you have sacked five Bank chiefs;

3. Further underline the gravity of the situation by grimly proclaiming that the possibility exists that more bank heads will fall because a few more banks are in distress;

4. Release an inaccurate list of debtors who own ‘non-performng loans’;

5. Initially tell Nigerians that the banks will be saved by the injection of funds and the new management teams, then state that more funds might be required, then go overseas to peddle these banks to foreigners like a street hawker?

Your actions, and the almost retarded manner in which they were executed, have caused unimaginable damage to the sector, no matter how hard your army of spin doctors and propagandists try to rebrand this fiasco.

How did you even manage to unilaterally appropriate and administer the N400 billion bailout? The National Assembly did not approve the intervention, and now they want to know (belatedly) who died and made you king. In fact, what calculations were done to arrive at the N400 billion figure in the first place, since the CBN has since admitted that the debt figures it acquired might currently be inaccurate because they are almost three months old?

I hear embarrassing stories of oil companies who took bank loans to execute GOVERNMENT contracts. The contracts have been executed, the Government has still not paid them, and their names are on the list.

And your romance with Madam EFCC is so sad it’s funny. Since when did defaulting on a loan become a criminal offence? If, as Madam EFCC claims, she is going after people who obtained the loans fraudulently, in whose court of law were these judgments of ‘fraudulence’ obtained. And furthermore, in this dispensation of the rule of law, how come the EFCC is still holding people who have gotten court orders that they be released immediately?

My friend, I want to believe that your intentions are noble but you’re ruining a good thing by acting like a bull in a crockery shop.

You remind me of Mallam El Rufai, exiled former Nigerian Minister, a man I used to admire (note the past tense). He had the same glint of mad genius in his eyes, and the same zeal and obsession towards the achievement of greatness. Slow down, take a deep breath, let history be your teacher. I want to believe you can be a great man; you don’t take a knife to your throat because you want to scratch an itch.

And don’t insult our sensibilities or play to the gallery by using the old “for the common good” argument. Hitler did, and look what happened to him and his noble cause.

I’ll leave you with a quote from the Central Bank of Nigeria, replying to the backlash that followed the publication of an outdated and inaccurate debtor list:

“The Central Bank of Nigeria regrets any inconvenience caused as a result of the typographical errors mentioned”

Classic.