Former President Goodluck Jonathan has addressed the allegations regarding the disappearance of over $49 billion in oil revenue from government accounts during his administration in 2014.
Jonathan, in a statement made at the launch of the book titled ‘Public Policy And Agent Interests: Perspectives From The Emerging World,’ co-authored by Dr. Shamshudeen Usman, a former Minister of Finance and Minister of Planning during Jonathan’s tenure, asserted that the claims of the missing funds under his government are unfounded.
It is worth noting that the accusation concerning the missing funds was initially raised by the then Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), now Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, who is also a contributor to the book.
In the publication, Emir Sanusi alludes to the controversy, which he contends resulted in his dismissal as CBN governor by President Jonathan.
During his opening remarks at the book launch, Jonathan expressed his support for the book’s themes and recommended it for academic and policy development purposes, while simultaneously disputing Sanusi’s assertion regarding the missing $49 billion.
The former president clarified that Sanusi was not dismissed but rather suspended, emphasizing that it would be implausible for such a significant sum to be misappropriated without noticeable repercussions in Nigeria.
He pointed out that, given the country’s budget was approximately $32 billion at that time, the theft of $49 billion from the national treasury was simply not feasible.
Jonathan recounted an encounter with former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who questioned him about the issue, to which he responded that such a large sum could not have been stolen from a nation facing economic challenges.
He further noted that he felt vindicated as the narrative surrounding the alleged missing funds shifted from $49 billion to $20 billion and eventually to $12 billion.
“Let mention that I did not agree completely with some issues raised by one of the contributors. But I don’t intend to join issues because he is our royal father. And he is here.
“The one he raised that he was sacked because he blew a whistle that the Federal Government lost $49.8billion is not quite correct. He was not sacked, he was suspended because the Financial Reporting Council queried the expenditure of CBN. And there were serious infractions that needed to be looked at. That was the reason. But somehow, the time was short. So before we finished, his tenure elapsed. Probably, he would have been called back.
“On the issue of $49.8billion, till today I am not convinced that the Federal Government lost $49.8 billion,” Jonathan stated.
Jonathan additionally stated that PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC), which conducted an investigation into the issue, found no evidence of theft; however, it was noted that $1.48 billion was unaccounted for by the NNPC at that time.
He also mentioned that the Senate Committee on Finance, chaired by Senator Ahmed Makarfi, looked into the matter and concluded that the allegations were unfounded.
