Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, Nigeria’s Central Bank Governor, appears unable
to shake off a report that he funneled public funds to Maryam Yaro, a
married mistress whom he gave a job at the bank he oversees.
Premium Times was first to report the scandal in which Mr. Sanusi was
accused of abusing his office in order to advance an amorous
relationship with a woman.
Several sources told SaharaReporters that Premium Times has been
under intense pressure from associates of the CBN Governor since the
expose was published. In the wake of the report, the CBN also issued a
widely circulated rebuttal claiming that Ms. Yaro was never a staff of
the bank, that she was employed at
Nigeria Incentive-based Risk Sharing Systems For Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL), and that the governor had no hand in her recruitment.
But records obtained by SaharaReporters suggest that the bank’s
claims are an attempt to muddle up the facts. NIRSAL, to which Ms. Yaro
is attached, is a special purpose vehicle (SPV) set up by the Federal
Government through a partnership between the CBN and the Federal
Ministry of Agriculture. Besides, the project is domiciled in the
Development Finance Department of the CBN.
It is the CBN’s human resource department that hires staff for
NIRSAL, and it is Mr. Sanusi who approves all recruitments into the
agency, insiders say.
Records available to us indeed showed that, contrary to the CBN’s
claims, Mr. Sanusi directly and personally approved Ms. Yaro’s
recruitment.
Investigations by SaharaReporters revealed that, after approving Ms.
Yaro’s hiring and sending her file back to the bank’s human resource
department, Mr. Sanusi sent a message to his mistress on June 25, 2012
saying, “I’m in South Africa. I approved your recruitment last week.”
Ten minutes later, Ms. Yaro responded: “You have made my day. Thank you so much. Let me know when you are back.”
When the human resource department delayed in sending her appointment letter, Ms. Yaro contacted Mr. Sanusi to complain.
“I have not heard anything from CBN since you approved my
recruitment,” she wrote in a July 9, 2012 message. “Is there anything I
need to do?”
A source told SaharaReporters that, following her complaint, Mr.
Sanusi contacted the CBN human resource department urging them to
expedite action on her case.
Eight days later, on July 17, 2012, Ms. Yaro informed Mr. Sanusi that
the human resource department had finally acted on his instruction.
“Allah nguro, I have been issued my letter of offer,” she said in a message. “Thank you so much. When can I come and see you?”
When she submitted her acceptance letter to human resource, Ms. Yaro
promptly informed Mr Sanusi and thanked him again for helping her to get
the job.
After Ms. Yaro assumed duties at the CBN headquarters in Abuja, the
human resource department produced a business card for her. In it she
was described as follows: “Dr. Maryam W. Yaro, Nirsal Project
Implementation Office (NPIO), Development Finance Department, Central
Bank of Nigeria.”
Even the documents released by the CBN are clear as to whether Ms.
Yaro could be regarded as a staff of the CBN, and whether the governor
played a role in her recruitment.
For instance, official memos detailing the processes leading to her
recruitment are marked “internal,” originating from NIRSAL to other
units of the bank. Her appointment letter, written on CBN letterhead,
was signed by Chizoba Mojekwu, director, human resources department of
the bank.
The CBN’s so-called rebuttal did not say why its human resource
director would sign an appointment letter for a staff or consultant of
another agency independent of the bank.
In its rebuttal, the bank provided evidence of communications leading
to Ms. Yaro’s employment in 2012, but provided none relating to any
public announcement of the vacancy she filled. The law requires that
such a post must be publicly announced to enable interested candidates
to apply.
The details show that the bank treated Ms. Yaro’s employment
expressly, with memos between NIRSAL office and CBN’s top management
indicating how Mr. Sanusi endorsed her recruitment.
In one document seen by SaharaReporters, a helpless staff of the bank
raised concern about Ms. Yaro’s recruitment. In a memo requesting Mr.
Sanusi’s approval of the recruitment, the concerned staff minuted:
“Please approve as prayed above. We should take into account diversity
in future recruitment.”
In approving the recruitment, Mr. Sanusi dismissed the staff’s
concern, and wrote: “Approved. I think gender is a good basis for
diversity here and candidate is qualified.”
Ms. Yaro’s recruitment process took a matter of weeks, and she
received her letter of offer in July 17, 2012 and promptly communicated
same to the CBN boss while also informing him of her planned date of
assumption of duties.
Some sources within the CBN suggested to SaharaReporters that some of
the documents circulated by the CBN were forged and backdated as a
face-saving measure. However, SaharaReporters was unable to
independently confirm the allegation.
SaharaReporters learned that the details of the affair between Mr.
Sanusi and Ms. Yaro have stirred anger and outrage within the bank and
beyond. Critics have focused on the fact that Mr. Sanusi, a public
officer, traveled on jets funded by taxpayers to keep appointments with
Ms. Yaro at expensive hotels. Until this scandal broke, Mr. Sanusi was
highly respected even if some of his policies, like doling cash to
victims of terrorist attacks in Kano, were controversial.
Mr. Sanusi led revolutionary reforms in the banks when he came on
board in 2009 and has remained critical and outspoken on several
government policies despite serving in the administration. He has also
repeatedly advocated adherence to the rule of law.
On the other hand, Mr. Sanusi has had his defenders. Many of these
defenders have brushed aside glaring evidence of misconduct by Nigeria’s
chief banker, instead accusing news reporters who worked on the story
of witch-hunting Mr. Sanusi and attempting to defame him.
Senior officials of Premium Times said they expected the backlash,
even as they stated that they stood firmly by their story. “We knew the
story was going to shock a lot of people,” said Idris Akinbajo acting
managing editor at the publication. “We were under no illusion that it
would take a lot of time for many to swallow the bitter truth of the
revelations made in the story.” He added, “We have discharged our
responsibility of providing information we believe citizens need in
order to hold officials accountable.
Mr. Akinbajo continued, “Our job is done, as we will only continue to
provide additional information as necessary. It is left for Nigerians
to either demand accountability or live without it – and so continue to
celebrate the indiscretions of their leaders.”
The executive added: “We stand firmly by our story and look forward
to the moment the CBN Governor will boldly look Nigerians in the
face and say any of the things we reported did not happen.”
