A former Governor of the Central Bank of
Nigeria, Charles Soludo, has said former
President Goodluck Jonathan ran the bank
like a movie from Uganda under Idi-Amin.
Idi-Amin Dada ruled Uganda with an iron fist
between 1971 and 1979 and has been
described as one of the most corrupt African
rulers.
Mr Soludo said, “Imagine a scenario where a
president can order the CBN to create an
intervention fund for national stability and
CBN literally ‘prints’ say, N3 trillion, and
doles it out cash to the Presidency to
prosecute an election campaign or for just
about anything he fancies. It is a scary
thought.
“We are going down a dangerous path that
ruins the economy. I don’t know any other
country where such is tolerated, except
perhaps what I watched in a movie about Idi
Amin and his governor of central bank.”
In an interview in the current Business
Edition of The Interview, the former CBN
governor described the bank as “the ATM of
the Presidency,” under Jonathan.
He said it was regrettable that in spite of the
bank’s statutory independence, it continues to
be a victim of high-wire politics, often
“electrocuting” the bank’s leadership.
Mr. Soludo said, “Recent revelations regarding
the ‘arms-gate’ (short for the $2.1billion
scandal involving former NSA Sambo Dasuki)
and the apparent abuse of the CBN as ATM by
the presidency should get reasonable people
thinking.”
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