Jonathan ran CBN like Idi Amin – Soludo

Former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN) Professor 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.

A statement from Mr. Azu Ishiekwene, the Managing Director/Editor-In-Chief, The Interview magazine quoted the Ex-CBN governor to have said in an interview it granted the magazine that, “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 the interview of the current Business Edition of The Interview, the former CBN governor described the bank as “the ATM of the Presidency,” under Jonathan.
However, it was Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi (now Emir of Kano) that was the CBN governor largely at the time Soludo spoke of thus leaving industry watchers confused if Sanusi could yield to such arbitrary demands with his hard posture.
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.
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.”