As Nigeria's president digs in against his "perceived enemies", whereabouts of Central Bank Governor unknown.....

CBN Governor Sanusi Lamido

By Remi DaCosta

Following his much publicized altercation with President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria, the whereabouts of Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, a highly respected banker and Governor of Nigeria's Central Bank, is unknown.

Sanusi, who was voted Africa Person of the Year by Forbes Magazine in 2011, was recently asked to resign by December 31 of last year.

The president had accused Sanusi of leaking "confidential information" regarding the purported $50 billion missing from the account of Nigeria's state oil firm, NNPC to Ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo. The latter chided President Jonathan on the issue, among others in a scathing letter criticizing Jonathan's leadership last month. 

Sanusi however denied the president’s claim, saying the letter was "widely available" within the key parastatals and as such could have been leaked by anyone with connections to the former president.

Apparently not satisfied with the answer, Jonathan was said to have insisted that Sanusi leave office on retirement, with immediate effect. Sanusi politely declined, stating that he fully intended to ride out his term till the June 2, 2014 date of his official departure unless he was removed by two-thirds majority of the Nigerian Senate, as the Constitution prescribes.

Reports reaching CC state that Sanusi has not been seen since January 8, 2014 and there are growing concerns about his well-being since he did not officially hand over his reign of duties (as is customary) to the Deputy Governor of the CBN, Mr. Tunde Lemo.

In the meantime, the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) has urged President Goodluck Jonathan to tread softly over the claim of forceful removal of Sanusi. 

The party cautioned the Presidency on its economic impact. APC’s Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said in a statement that advising Sanusi to step down on the basis of a mere allegation that he leaked the letter he wrote to the President, over the unaccounted for $49.8 billion oil revenue, does not augur well for an already "soft" economy.

More to follow.