Wait A Minute, Professor
Soludo :
-
What Kind of “Corporate Responsibility
Service” is This ? -
By
Mobolaji
E. Aluko, PhD
Burtonsville, MD, USA
April 11,
2005
INTRODUCTION
I know obfuscation and
disingenuity when I see them, and I see them CLEARLY in the admitted N50
million gift of the Central Bank of
Nigeria
– possibly in cash – to the Senate and House Committees on Banking during
its recent consideration of certain reform bills – namely the CBN Act and
the Banks and Other Financial
Institutions Act (BOFIA).
The Central Bank Governor is
Prof. Charles Soludo, the Senate Committee chair on
Banking, Insurance and Financial Institutions is Senator Zik Sunday Ambuno
(Vice-Chair: Farouk Bello), and that of the House is Honorable Modibo Ahmed
(Vice-Chair: U.S.A. Igwesi)
Any attempt by Soludo, the
Committee chairmen and their handlers to pull wool over the eyes
of Nigerian citizens, to bamboozle us that this was just routine “corporate
responsibility services” , aka public relations, must be
resisted with fury, because first, we are NO FOOLS, and secondly, public
money does NOT belong to them to be used any how and with impunity.
Aha !
What kind of nonsense is that ?
THE INITIAL
STORY
Here is how the story first
played, first by Punch newspaper of
Tuesday, April 5, 2005,
and expanded upon by Guardian:
Senator Sunday had in a
letter dated
November 15, 2005
to Prof. Charles Soludo, CBN Governor, said in part:
“You may
recall our discussion on the huge task before the committee relating to the
two Acts mentioned. Already, the committee has incurred heavy expenditure on
adverts for the public hearings. There is also a need to hire experts,
consultants and lawyers as we undertake detail consideration of the two
bills. In this regard, any support from the CBN will highly be appreciated,
as it will go a long way in assisting the committee to do a good job.”
The CBN had on December 17
approved the request with an approval of N50 million to the Senate and House
Committees on Banking.
The Senate Committee was to
receive N20 million while the House Committee was to receive N30 million.
Payment vouchers from the CBN on the approvals entitled as “Donations” were
equally approved on the same day.
"I contacted the signatory
of the letter, that is Senator Zik Sunday and he categorically informed me
that actually, the letter emanated from them but what they were soliciting
was not cash, that they were not asking the Central Bank to give them cash,
but to give them any logistics support in terms of lawyers and consultants
that could help package the whole thing,” Senator Wada told Vanguard
yesterday.
Affirming that there was no
exchange of cash in the transaction, Senator Wada said: “The truth of the
matter is that no such money exchanged hands, they didn’t receive any
thing.”
BIG UNQUOTE
In support of its donation
to the CBN, an official of the apex bank stated that:
QUOTE
The apex bank
it has spent over N300 million in
various capacity building projects in some Nigerian universities and other
government agencies between 1999 and 2004 but decided early this year to
stop such projects because of its dwindling fortunes.
“There are
hardly any other professional organisations and institutions that promote
economic development, monetary and financial policies that have not received
donations from CBN,” the statement said.
UNQUOTE
For the Bank to equate
donation of money to the National Assembly that was considering certain
bills in which the bank had interest to donations to universities , other
government agencies and professional organizations and institutions is most
dishonest, period. Even a direct donation to the EFCC
or ICPC – who could be possible interrogators of the CBN
– at a period immediately following the commencement of investigations of
the CBN would not pass the smell test.
Yes, on its website (see
http://www.cenbank.org/cbncommunity/index.htm
) the CBN lists donations to all twenty-four federal universities (totaling
N406.75 million), to the EFCC (N60.5 million) and to the Investments and
Securities Tribunal (N10 million) – but not to National Assembly o !
SOME CURIOUS
ASPECTS
But there are a number of
curious aspects to the exchange between the National Assembly and the
Central Bank:
-
Senator Zik first denied
that any money was exchanged – that CBN paid directly for consultants etc.
That assertion has since been denied.
-
There is an allegation that
the Senate Committee indicated that since it did not have a bank account
separate from the Senate, the money it was asking for should be given to it
IN CASH. How the money was actually exchanged is yet to
be confirmed – or denied – but to give the money in cash would have been
most irresponsible and definitely sanctionable.
-
The Senate had passed, in
August 2004, amendments to the CBN Act and to BOFIA that were NOT in
consonance with the desires of CBN, namely:
QUOTE
THE Senate yesterday [AUGUST
26, 2004] with near unanimity pushed through amendments to the Central Bank
of Nigeria Act and the Banks and other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA)
which seeks to reverse the recent CBN guidelines prescribing a minimum N25
billion for the country's banks. The two bills sponsored by three members of
the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Financial Institutions were
applauded by senators as a necessary check against perceived determination
of the CBN to destablise the financial system through its prescription of
the N25 million capital base……Under the bill amending BOFIA, banks would be
categorized as small, medium and mega banks with paid-up capital at N5
billion, N10 billion and N25 billion respectively…..
The amendment bill also aims
to subject the appointment of the CBN Governor to Senate confirmation and
compel the regulatory bank to submit periodic analysis of the economy to the
Senate and the House of Representatives…..
UNQUOTE
This passage ran counter to
Soludo’s July 6, 2004 address to banks’ top brass
which pegged the minimum capitalization for deposit taking banks at N25
billion, with December 31, 2005 as deadline for compliance; or the current
situation where the president the CBN governor without need for National
Assembly assent.
Consequently, money being
asked for in December 2004 was possibly for “quid pro quo” to change the
minds of the Senators – if the money reached all of them accordingly.
Since the House has not passed its own version of the
two bills, they are still “live”, and considerations for them are still
pertinent, if you understand what that means.
WHAT IS TO BE
DONE ?
So what must be done ?
A. The
Senate has started on the right tack, first by noting some impropriety, and
next by quizzing Senator Zik Ambuno and by outlining some of what he should
do, viz:
QUOTE
Meanwhile, the Senate, at an executive session last Wednesday
[APRIL 6, 2005], barred senators from further seeking any sort of "donations
or assistance" from ministries, parastatals or the private sector, directing
each of the 53 standing committees to work within the budget allocated to
it.
The Senate decision, THISDAY gathered, was the outcome of its
quizzing of the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial
Institutions chairman, Senator Zik-Sunday Ambuno, during executive session,
over his committee's alleged demand of N50m donation from the CBN.
According to a Senator, who participated in the executive
session, "we have resolved that henceforth no senator should seek any form
of donation or assistance from any ministry, parastatals or the private
sector. Every committee should also work within the ambit of the budget
allocated to it (committee).
"We also put the banking committee chairman, Ambuno, on the
spot and asked him to explain to the whole house what his roles are in the
said "donation" to enable the Senate receive a first hand information.
"He (Ambuno) admitted writing the letter seeking assistance
from the CBN” the source said.
However, what we have done is to discuss the matter and
ensure that it does not hit us like a flash as did the on-going N55m
bribe-for-budget scam.
"What could be called the high point of the floor was that
Ambuno should come forward with facts and figures on how the donation was
spent on hiring consultants, holding public hearing and producing the
amended Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Act as well as the Banks and Other
Financial Institutions (BOFI) Act but the matter is yet to be concluded.
"This
high point
was arrived at on the basis of CBN admission that they approved the N50m
donation from which the Senate Committee received N20m and that the CBN
offers such assistance once a while. Also, the letter Ambuno sent to CBN was
on his letter head so it could not be described as fraudulent. He knew what
he was doing. Senators are only interested in him showing evidence of
utilisation of the fund for committee work.
UNQUOTE
Note that
anytime the Senate or House goes into "executive session", something fishy
is happening, usually to do with money.
Moving on...
But it appears that the
Central Bank is still in denial, except to state that because of “dwindling
financial fortunes” – rather than contrition at possibly unethical behavior
- it has stopped the practice of such dubious
“donations.”
Mind you, we
are not stating that the CBN should not donate to universities, for example
– God knows that they need it – but it should stop “bribing” the National
Assembly, by subterfuge, period.
B. If,
for example, after the National Assembly investigation, it is determined
that the money was IMPROPERLY disbursed by cash and used for personal
benefit by the assemblmen, then:
-
The N50 million MUST be
returned to the Central Bank without delay;
-
Prof. Soludo MUST be
sanctioned somehow for what is CLEARLY a corrupt practice of using public
money to in effect “bribe” the Senators – similar to what Osuji did, only
with some more professorial “refinement.”
No kid glove should be
applied simply because he is Professor Soludo, one of OBJ’s many “whiz
kids.” After all, that other person too was also a
professor, abi ?
PROLOGUE
What is wrong with us
professors, anyway ? Why are we behaving so clumsy
financially with public money, to put it mildly ?
Inquiring minds want to
know.
I rest my case.
We shall be watching.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Soludo's N25b solution
tears Senate apart
July 23, 2004
Soludo and the Banks
July 26, 2004
Senate plans separate
capital bases for banks
August 13, 2004
N25bn banks capitalisation:
Amendments to CBN act, BOFIA through in Senate
August 27, 2004
'Categorisation of
Banks Makes a Lot
of Sense'
This Day
(Lagos)
INTERVIEW
March 13, 2005
Controversy Trails CBN's
N50m Donation to Nass
April 6, 2005
A N50 million "donation"
made by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to two committees of the National
Assembly is currently generating uproar.
Leadership, a weekly
newspaper reported on Monday that the CBN donated N20 million to the Senate
Committee on Banks, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions and N30
million to the House of Representatives Committee on Banking and Currency.
This donation said to have
been made late last year, reportedly followed a request made by the chairman
of the Senate Committee on Banks, Senator Zik Sunday Ambuno, to the CBN
Governor, Professor Charles Soludo.
While the public views the
donation by the apex bank in the light of bribes allegedly being given to
lawmakers by various government establishments, a source in the CBN who
prefers anonymity told Daily Trust that "this is part of the bank's social
responsibility service to its community (the Nigerian nation).
According to the source,
the apex bank had made several similar donations to various public
institutions, stressing that "this is not anything new in the CBN."
The source referred our
reporters to the Central Bank of
Nigeria
website for details of such corporate responsibility services.
Daily Trust checks shows
that the CBN had contributed N60.5 million to support various activities of
the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), in the last financial
year alone.
Further checks showed that
about N406.5 million was disbursed by the apex bank last year to all federal
universities for various projects in those institutions.
Punch newspaper in its
edition of
Tuesday, April 5, 2005,
reported Professor Soludo also emphasising that the donation was in line
with the apex bank's social responsibility to support causes that would
advance the nation's economy.
Another report also quoted
a statement issued by the CBN spokesman, Mr. Tony Ede, on Monday, saying
that the bank has directed that such donations should be discontinued with
effect from last year due to dwindling resources.
When contacted by Senate
correspondents over the matter yesterday, chairman of the senate committee
on information, Senator Tawa Umbi Wada, hinted that Senator Ambuno will
address the press today to state his own side of the story.
This Day
EFCC
Denies Quizzing Soludo
ByAyodele
Aminu in
Lagos
and Kola Ologbondiyan in
Abuja,
04.08.2005
The
Economic and Financial Crimes Com-mission (EFCC) yesterday said that it
neither quizzed, interrogated nor questioned the Central Bank of Nigeria
(CBN) Governor, Prof. Charles Soludo, or any of the bank's officials
over the N50 million donation the apex bank made to the National
Assembly last year as reported by a national daily yesterday.
The CBN also said that Soludo and top officials had neither been quizzed
nor interrogated by the EFCC.
A
national daily had reported Wednesday that EFCC had interrogated the CBN
Governor and some of his top officials to ascertain whether the N50
million the apex bank donated to the National Assembly last year was to
facilitate the passage of the CBN Act and the Banks and Other Financial
Institutions Act (BOFIA).
An EFCC
statement denying the said publication signed by its Head of Media and
Publicity, Osita Nwajah, read in part: “EFCC hereby denies in their
entirety, the parts of the story that relates to the Commission.
“For the
avoidance of doubts, EFCC did not “quiz”, interrogate or question Prof.
Charles Soludo or other officials of the Central Bank over any
allegation or on going investigation being conducted by the Commission."
The CBN
also in a statement said there was no iota of truth in the report.
“We hereby state categorically that there is no iota of truth in the ...
report. CBN Governor and top officials have been in Lagos since Monday,
April 4, 2005 holding policy and financial surveillance meeting, meeting
with boards of directors of the Nigeria Security Printing and Minting
Company as well as meeting with Chief Executives and top management of
deposit money banks on progress made so far, constraints, challenges and
the way forward on the achievement of the N25 billion minimum
capitalization of banks through bank consolidaton.
“Running
such a tight schedule, it is surprising that the top management of the
CBN are being quizzed by the EFCC,” CBN said in the statement signed by
the CBN Deputy Director, Corporate Affairs, Tony Ede.
While
maintaining that the report is “malicious, sensational, mischievous and
obviously intended to dampen the tempo or completely truncate the
revolutionary banking sector,” the CBN said it “is aware of the
maneuvering of various interests and groups to employ dirty and
unethical means including a smear campaign to take advantage of the
current ambiance.”
The apex
bank added that it has spent over N300 million in various capacity
building projects in some Nigerian universities and other government
agencies between 1999 and 2004 but decided early this year to stop such
projects because of its dwindling fortunes.
“There
are hardly any other professional organisations and institutions that
promote economic development, monetary and financial policies that have
not received donations from CBN,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, the Senate, at an executive session last Wednesday, barred
senators from further seeking any sort of "donations or assistance" from
ministries, parastatals or the private sector, directing each of the 53
standing committees to work within the budget allocated to it.
The
Senate decision, THISDAY gathered, was the outcome of its quizzing of
the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial
Institutions chairman, Senator Zik-Sunday Ambuno, during executive
session, over his committee's alleged demand of N50m donation from the
CBN.
According to a Senator, who participated in the executive session, "we
have resolved that henceforth no senator should seek any form of
donation or assistance from any ministry, parastatals or the private
sector. Every committee should also work within the ambit of the budget
allocated to it (committee).
"We also
put the banking committee chairman, Ambuno, on the spot and asked him to
explain to the whole house what his roles are in the said "donation" to
enable the Senate receive a first hand information.
"He (Ambuno)
admitted writing the letter seeking assistance from the CBN” the source
said.
However,
what we have done is to discuss the matter and ensure that it does not
hit us like a flash as did the on-going N55m bribe-for-budget scam.
"What
could be called the high point of the floor was that Ambuno should come
forward with facts and figures on how the donation was spent on hiring
consultants, holding public hearing and producing the amended Central
Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Act as well as the Banks and Other Financial
Institutions (BOFI) Act but the matter is yet to be concluded.
"This
high
point
was arrived at on the basis of CBN admission that they approved the N50m
donation from which the Senate Committee received N20m and that the CBN
offers such assistance once a while. Also, the letter Ambuno sent to CBN
was on his letter head so it could not be described as fraudulent. He
knew what he was doing. Senators are only interested in him showing
evidence of utilisation of the fund for committee work.
"If we
had taken past allegations with the seriousness and accuracy they
deserved, the Senate would not have found itself in the current
cul-de-sac. But you know we have a new Senate President and we are bent
on putting the filthy past behind us," the source added.
Senate redefines shareholders funds
Friday,
February 11, 2005
In a move that runs parallel to the Central Bank of
Nigeria’s
position, the Senate amended both the CBN Act and the Banks and Other
Financial Institutions (BOFIA).
Under the
amendment act, banks have been categorized along Mega banks, Medium bank and
small banks. The paid up share capital plus shareholders’ fund for this
different category as stated in the act are; N25 billion, N10 billion and N5
billion respectively. Justifying this act, chairman of senate committee on
banks while briefing news men said it was not fair to compel smaller banks,
which were not into large scale financial transactions to operate on the
same minimum capital base with the big ones
It would be
noted that the CBN governor, Professor Charles Soludo in his
July 6, 2004
address to banks’ top brass had pegged the minimum capitalization for
deposit taking banks to N25 billion with
December 31,
2005
as deadline for compliance.
However some
stakeholders oppose the senate stand on the matter. The deputy chairman,
House of Representatives committee on banking and currency, Honorable U.S.A
Igwe described the amendment as a mere proposal anchored on its decision,
which is not yet law. He explained that the house would also take a decision
on the matter before the bill will be passed. Speaking in the same
direction, some banking top brass claimed it’s just a bill and not a law.
They affirmed that the House of Representatives will have to look at it or
pass it and even when they pass it, the president will have to sign it into
law.
Whereby the
president refuses to sign it, the National assembly has up to 30 days before
they can veto the president’s decision.
Based on
such length of time and processes,
December
31st, 2005,
as the deadline would have been around and the apex bank could have
carried out its planned penalty.