As the debate on the 2014 budget continued in the Senate yesterday, Chairman, Senate Committee on Rules and Business,Senator Eta Enang, on Wednesday accused the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, of committing acts inimical to fiscal prudence and development of the country.The Senate said that Sanusi had constituted a government to himself by embarking on the construction of N98 billion international convention centre in Abuja without appropriation by the National Assembly.According to him, the contract for the centre was approved by Contracts Tender Board of the CBN without the authority of Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP).Enang believes that building an international convention centre, which includes auditorium, exhibition/multi-functional halls, restaurants, shops, a five-star and three-star hotels, after purchasing the defunct Nigeria Telecommunications Limit (NITEL) building at the Central Business Area (CBA) of Abuja, amounted to stretching the CBN mandate too far.’How much did the CBN use in buying the NITEL building at the central area? How much and who was paid to control bomb the building in demolition, which land is now for the CBN five-star hotel and convention centre? Could this money not be used to fund the national budget?’ Enang queried.Other unauthorised spending by the CBN, according to him, included funding of hotels in Jos, Plateau State; Ilorin, Kwara State; among others, to the tune of N10 billion each, besides the N50 billion, which he said, was proposed for one hospital in Lagos.He also said all these were yet in addition to the funding of the construction of helipads at some of the business locations of the CBN. ‘These are done with excess and toxic money which would have been used to fund the federal budget if the Ministry of Finance had done what is in the law that the National Assembly passed,’ he added.Further, he asked: ‘Who owns who? Is it the CBN that owns Nigeria or Nigeria that owns CBN? Is CBN a government within a government or a government unto itself?’
