26th January, 2024
Former Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido has backed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over its decision to relocate some of its departments to Lagos.
There has been outcry by the northerners over the relocation of some CBN departments from Abuja to Lagos.
But, Sanusi, a former CBN Governor in a statement on Thursday, advised the current governor, Yemi Cardoso to go ahead with his policy.
He said once the CBN started bending to political pressure on one thing, it would continue doing so.
According to him, northern politicians would shout that “this is moving from Abuja to Lagos. Abuja is a federal capital, not a northern issue. So long as this is a principled decision the noise should be ignored.”
Sanusi stated that when he was about to get his license at Jaiz Bank, there was a lot of religious noise from the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and others.
He said even enlightened people like Okey Emelamah were going to sue him on religious grounds, but said he ignored it and licensed the bank and that nothing happened.
“No one is even noticing again. Ethnic and religious bigots will always shout. The CBN should rise above it and just do what needs to be done. It is a very unpopular and difficult job and the Governor needs to be tough,” Sanusi stated.
The former CBN governor said in his mind, what he would have done then was to move Financial System Stability (FSS) and most operations to Lagos such that the two Deputy Governors would be largely operating out of Lagos or, even if they were more in Abuja, the bulk of their operational staff would be in Lagos.