Well-respected banker and founder of Anapjet, Atedo Peterside, has lashed out against the controversial removal and banishment of former Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, calling it an affront on the Nigerian constitution.
He has also warned of a high likelihood of Nigeria falling into another economic recession if the right policy mix was not adopted urgently.
In a letter to the governor of the Central Bank who had invited him to a conference holding this morning to discuss the economy, Peterside said he chose to stay away from the meeting in protest against the action of the Kano State government and because he saw no point joining in the discussion at a time like this.
“The theme for your Roundtable Session is ‘Going for Growth’. Rapid growth is only achieved on the back of significant investment activity. Going for growth should therefore be a holistic concept that embraces the sum total of actions and activities that we need to encourage in order to boost investor confidence, including respect of individual freedoms and the rule of law,” Peterside said in the letter dated Tuesday, March 10.
“Sadly, yesterday’s [Monday] events have turned back the clock at a time when our economy is at a precipice and when we need to tell ourselves some home truths and speak truth to power in a constructive manner,” he said.
Peterside said he received an invitation, at short notice, to be a panellist at a CBN Consultative Roundtable Session taking place in Abuja on Wednesday (today). While thanking the CBN governor for the invitation, he said he reckoned the right thing was for him to respectfully decline to participate.
“It is true that I am currently out of the country, but it is also true that I could have reorganised my activities and flown into Abuja in time to join you tomorrow [Wednesday] morning. My refusal to join you has more to do with the monumental events that took place yesterday viz the removal of the Emir of Kano from office and the release of information that purportedly seeks to exile him and restrict his movements or confine them to a little known enclave in Nassarawa State,” he said.
He said he and his wife were invited to the Commonwealth Service that held in Westminster Abbey in London on Monday and they witnessed a colourful ceremony which included speeches by a variety of personalities, including Anthony Joshua, the Nigerian-British heavyweight boxing champion. He said Anthony Joshua and other speakers reminded them eloquently about what could go right when “we embrace the forces of modernity whilst recognising and upholding our proud cultural heritage”.
“At the exact same time, I was distracted by disturbing news from Kano on Monday which confirmed what can go wrong, when those in authority pay lip service to the Nigerian Constitution and then proceed to violate the fundamental freedoms that it guarantees each individual because they prefer to cling to practices like exile which they learnt from colonial masters and the military. These practices have no place in a democratic dispensation,” Peterside said.
“By coincidence, the Ex-Emir of Kano is your predecessor in office at CBN. Ordinarily, he qualifies to be invited for tomorrow’s event. Did you invite him?”
He said he had decided to stay away from the Consultative Roundtable and to instead use the opportunity of the letter to draw the attention of a wider audience to his displeasure with the events of Monday.
“Please forgive me because I am in no mood to immediately pretend as if all is well by proceeding with business as usual. At an appropriate time I will send you my thoughts on how to quickly eliminate the policy inconsistencies that threaten the stability of our macroeconomy as CBN continues to seek to defy the odds by simultaneously pursuing a low domestic interest rate regime which clearly cannot coexist with high inflation and naira exchange rate stability in the face of collapsed/collapsing oil prices and an insatiable and uncontrolled appetite for foreign currency loans.
“This unsustainable policy mix has spooked investors (local and foreign), thereby making it increasingly likely that the Nigerian economy slides back into a recession, unless you quickly embark on some course correction.
I wish you happy deliberations tomorrow,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Kaduna State government on Tuesday announced the appointment of Sanusi into the board of the Kaduna Investment Promotion Agency (KADIPA).
The reconstitution of the board of KADIPA was approved by Governor Nasir El-Rufai, according to a statement from the Kaduna State Government House.
“Malam Nasir El-Rufai has appointed His Highness, Muhammad Sanusi II into the board of KADIPA. The appointment is part of the reconstitution of the board of KADIPA, which is statutorily chaired by the deputy governor, and has as internal members senior officials of the Kaduna State government,” Muyiwa Adekeye, special adviser to the governor on media and publicity, said in a statement, Tuesday.
“Governor El-Rufai said that Kaduna State hopes to benefit from the profile, experience, intellect and networks of His Highness, Muhammad Sanusi, who before becoming Emir, had built a solid reputation in global financial circles. Malam Nasir El-Rufai said that Kaduna State is honoured to be able to call on the services of a man of such calibre to drive its development,” Adekeye said.
Sanusi’s legal has raised an alarm about the safety of the deposed emir, making an appeal to well-meaning Nigerians and the international community to prevail on the Kano State government to release him from its custody.
The legal team, headed by Abubakar Mahmoud, immediate past national president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), said the life of Sanusi, who is banished to a remote village in Nassarawa State by the Ganduje administration, is under threat.
According to Mahmoud, the deposed Emir Sanusi “is kept in unlawful custody”, urging security agencies to without delay ensure his immediate release and reunion with his family or be ready to meet them in court.
Segun Adams (Lagos) & Adeola Ajakaiye (Kano)
