Watchers and followers of American history would readily admit that one of
\nthe most enduring scandals of the Ronald Reagan Administration was the
\nclandestine sale of arms to Iran, at the time a sworn enemy of the US,
\nwith some of the proceeds sent to a South American Rebel group in cash.
\nThis scandal, generally referred to as the Iran-Contra Affair, led to an
\nunreserved apology to the American people by President Reagan on 13th
\nAugust 1987.
\nIn a slightly related circumstance, about 3 months to the end of the
\nBarack Obama administration, news broke that the US administration had
\nferried over $1.7 billion equivalent in foreign cash to the Iranian
\ngovernment. The monies drawn from the Federal Reserve Bank, the equivalent
\nof our Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), were paid in \u201cSwiss Francs, euros
\nand other currencies\u201d, the department of Treasury later confirmed.<\/p>\n
The covert payment to Iran was also used as leverage to guarantee the
\nrelease of four American prisoners.<\/p>\n
One can also recall the scandal that broke in February 2000 when it was
\nalleged that about US$20 million was paid in cash from Germany’s
\nintelligence agency, known as the BND, to the favored political parties
\nfrom 1974 to 1982 while Helmut Schmidt, a Social Democrat, was chancellor.<\/p>\n
It is open knowledge that elite intelligence agencies like the CIA,
\nMOSSAD, MI5 and others, mostly prefer to fund their operations in cash for
\nease and also so as not to leave money trails. It doesn\u2019t matter what the
\noperation is – whether it is to topple a foreign government, protect the
\nhomeland or counter-terrorism, etc., the mode of transaction is preferably
\ncash. This is why their budgets are called black budgets \u2013 there dealings
\nare opaque \u2013 no records \u2013 no receipts – It is that simple.<\/p>\n
I have never read or heard in the news where the central banks of these
\ngovernments are being vilified and hounded for funding these duly approved
\ncash requests except of course lately in Nigeria. Why is this so? Your
\nguess is as good as mine \u2013 the politics of power.<\/p>\n
The Central Bank of Nigeria is the banker of the federal government and
\nits corresponding agencies. The relationship we have with our banks is
\nsame one that these government agencies maintain with the CBN. For
\nexample, if I write you a cheque and you take it to the bank for payment,
\nthe teller will simply pay you, if my account is funded and the
\nsignature(s) match. In fact, sometimes you are asked, \u201cHow do you want
\nyour money \u2013 N1000 or N500 notes\u201d. The teller is not going to ask you what
\nyou intend to do with the money nor will they ask the account owner why
\nhe\/she is giving money to the person withdrawing.<\/p>\n
I am using this simple analogy to highlight the disgraceful and dangerous
\nplot being executed by some powerful but disgruntled persons to continue
\nto taint and discredit an institution as sensitive as the CBN because it
\nmade duly authorized payments to security agencies for clandestine
\noperations. Even though the cash payment being investigated now occurred
\nduring the administration of Goodluck Jonathan, reliable sources within
\nthe intelligence and financial industry confirm that this practice of
\npaying cash to intelligence agencies such as the NIA, NSA, SSS, and
\nDefence Ministry, is so routine that it has undoubtedly continued under
\nthe administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. If indeed this
\nadministration found it so horrible that the CBN pays cash to these
\nagencies, why did it continue this practice? Your guess is as good as
\nmine\u2014politics? Giving a dog a bad name so as to kill it?<\/p>\n
The disgraceful infighting amongst our so-called elite security agencies
\nwhich has led to washing of their dirty linens in public is a huge
\nembarrassment to not only the federal government but to Nigerians in
\ngeneral. (Let me leave this for future discuss but suffice it to note that
\nthe Osinbajo Panel and President Buhari should heed the warnings of Prof.
\nBolaji Akinyemi on this matter).<\/p>\n
For those who have not read the Sunday piece by the respected foreign
\naffairs professor and former Foreign Minister, let me quote some
\nparagraphs:<\/p>\n
\u201cExternal intelligence officers, otherwise called spies, do not operate
\nunder the same operational penalties as domestic intelligence officers.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnder no circumstances should the report of the panel in as far as it
\nrelates to the activities of the NIA be made public and no more leaks from
\nthe panel\u2026 Normally, foreign intelligence activities are shrouded in
\nsecrecy, and not in the glare of publicity.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026 Countries go to incredible lengths to hide the identities of their
\nagents both domestic and foreign and their operations. No receipts get
\nissued. Budgets are called black budgets because they are never publicly
\nacknowledged.\u201d
\nThe CBN since its founding in 1958 has been paying out cash to government
\nand its agencies to fund various operations whether they are covert or
\notherwise. This practice has been standard under all Presidents including
\nthis one. The CBN since the past leadership of Roy Pentelow Fenton through
\nClement Isong, Adamu Ciroma, Paul Ogwuma, Lamido Sanusi and now Godwin
\nEmefiele at various times have paid out millions of dollars in cash to the
\nfederal government and security agencies to fund one operation or another.
\nIn fact, I gathered that Nigeria\u2019s last intervention in The Gambia that
\nled to the eventual peaceful ousting of strongman Yahyah Jammeh from power
\nin January was funded by tens of millions of dollars in cash provided by
\nthe CBN to the Defence\/NSA.<\/p>\n
My point is, we must stop this silly culture of destroying the integrity
\nof our revered institutions because of selfish interests and agendas. If
\nany person or group wants to take up issues with how Nigeria\u2019s funds are
\nbeing spent then it must channel that effort to the right office and not
\nthe CBN. The CBN is just a bank \u2013 it has a civic and constitutional duty
\nto pay when a mandate is presented with all approving signatories verified
\nand of course with the account holders\u2019 account funded accordingly.<\/p>\n
*** Austyn Ogannah is the Publisher of THEWILL Newspaper
\n(www.thewillnigeria.com) and an advocate of governance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Watchers and followers of American history would readily admit that one of the most enduring scandals of the Ronald Reagan Administration was the clandestine sale of arms to Iran, at…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23167,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n