Sanusi Floors FRCN In Court

The embattled suspended governor of the Central Bank Of Nigeria, Lamido Sanusi, on Monday floored the Federal government as a Federal High Court in Lagos, barred the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria, FRCN, from investigating him.

Delivering the judgment which lasted almost two hours, John Tsoho declared that the federal high court has the jurisdiction to adjudicate on the matter brought before it by the suspended CBN governor.

Justice Tsoho explained that although the FRCN is responsible for ensuring good governance in financial matters, their position shows that they are already prejudiced.

"Prejudice is very pronounced in the language of that document. The language of the briefing note (transmitted by the FRCN to the presidency) conveys a sense of the defendant desperately goading the presidency to deal with the plaintiff" Tsoho said. "The plaintiff submitting himself for investigation (by FRCN) is like the cockroach finding itself in the midst of fowls. Such a cockroach cannot be innocent".

Justice Tsoho countered the FRCN’s argument that their recommendation to the presidency was merely advisory, adding that it was clear that they had already decided Sanusi's fate, even before their investigation.

The court said that the presidency intends to punish Sanusi over allegations of financial impropriety.

‘COMPETENT SUIT’

Sanusi, after being suspended from office as CBN governor in February for alleged financial recklessness, has dragged the FRCN to the court to stop them from investigating his tenure as the apex bank’s boss.

The suspended apex bank governor also sought a declaration that the FRCN does not have the power to constitute itself into an investigating body; that the body having already accused him of financial impropriety can no longer investigate him; and an order restraining the FRCN or any of its privies from conducting or continuing its investigation of him.

The judge declared all the issues sought in favour of the plaintiff (Sanusi) and granted all his reliefs.

In their argument, the defendants (FRCN) stated that the court does not have the power to adjudicate on the suit because Sanusi did not exhaust the internal mechanism of grievance resolution in the FRCN Act 2011.

Section 66 of the Act states that any aggrieved public interest or professional entity should table its appeal before the council’s technical oversight committee, and that all methods of resolution must be exhausted before any external adjudication is sought.

The FRCN accused Sanusi of “jumping the gun,” describing his suit before the court as “incompetent and a pre-emptive act.”

But Sanusi argued that the FRCN’s transmission of their briefing note, which indicted him, to the presidency even before he appeared before the council was a violation of his right to fair hearing.

"The person whose fundamental right is threatened is allowed to take action at that stage" Tsoho said, in support of Sanusi’s justification of rushing to the court.

"In the case of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, this is to avoid the avalanche before it gathers momentum. The plaintiff’s suit as it is before this court is regular and competent and the defendants’ preliminary objection is pre-conceived and confounded and is accordingly dismissed" he said.

In arguing that the FRCN’s attempt to investigate him is beyond their powers, Sanusi admitted that the body has the power to investigate financial professionals but that the investigation must be limited to the object and purpose of the FRCN.

"The first defendant is neither the Nigeria Police Force or any other law enforcement agency charged with the duty to investigate offences and infractions. That even where a statute confers investigative powers to a body, it must be limited to the provisions of the establishing statutes" Sanusi’s lawyers argued.

The judge agreed with the plaintiff’s lawyers, noting that the FRCN’s continued investigation of both their client and his tenure as CBN boss would be ineffective since he had been pre-judged.

"It is glaring that if they kept the letters of the Act, they did not or have not respected the spirit of its enabling provisions. It is like putting the cart before the horse and expecting the horse to run… The fore-knowledge of the facts should therefore disqualify the defendants from investigating the tenure of the plaintiff" the judge said.

The judge also noted that the suspended CBN governor had provided ample evidence that the FRCN is biased against him and cannot be impartial in its investigation.

"If they (FRCN) are allowed to go ahead, it is predictable that a jaundiced or skewed recommendation would be arrived at" Tsoho said.

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