As the contours of Tinubu's presidency start to take shape, a significant lobby is actively lobbying for the appointment of Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, or CBN.
Sanusi, whose area of expertise is risk management in the banking industry, has the support of Kaduna State Governor Nasiru El Rufai, who speaks with Bola Tinubu, the incoming president.
After the turmoil of the global financial crisis of 2008/2009, Sanusi's strong, independent leadership of the CBN as governor between 2009 and 2014 ensured relative stability of the financial market.
In addition, the value of the Naira stabilized for four years between N155 and $1.
After taking office on May 29, Tinubu, a seasoned accountant, is expected to immediately revitalize the national economy with a new monetary management template combined with sound fiscal policy.
"The Nigerian economy is estimated to have lost N20trillion between January and March 2023, according to the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, a think tank, by way of deceleration of economic activities, crippling of trading activities, stifling of the informal economy, contraction of the agricultural sector, and the paralysis of the rural economy,” a source said.
Remember that Sanusi generated controversy by asserting that $20 billion (£12 billion) in oil money had vanished? The governor of President Goodluck Jonathan promptly suspended Sanusi.
In his testimony to a senate committee, he said that of the $67 billion in oil sales between January 2012 and July 2013, $20 billion could not be verified.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company stated that despite the claim's lack of support, the charges exhibited “little understanding of the technicalities of the oil industry”.
After implementing banking sector changes following his 2009 appointment, Mr Sanusi earned widespread recognition and was chosen central bank governor of the year for 2010 by Banker magazine.
To protect the independence of the central bank, he promised to challenge his suspension.
The uncertainty brought on by his suspension froze trading in the currency, bond, and money markets.
According to Will Ross of the BBC, Sanusi's charges could reveal high-level fraud in Nigeria's infamously secretive and dishonest oil industry. Nigeria, is one of the biggest oil producers in the world.
“The reality is anyone who challenges the oil sector is striking at the heart of the vested interests that control the Nigerian state and one should be ready for the consequences,” Sanusi told the BBC at the time.
