Suspension: Sanusi says will challenge President Jonathan in the courts

The ousted governor of  says no one can say how many billions of petrodollars are missing from state coffers until there is an investigation.

The internationally respected Lamido Sanusi says he will challenge his suspension in the courts because it threatens the future independence of the apex bank of Africa's largest oil producer.

President Goodluck Jonathan insisted at a news conference Monday that he has "absolute power" to suspend but not dismiss the governor.

Jonathan said the suspension is unrelated to Sanusi's revelations about the missing billions. 

He said it was because of "financial recklessness" — a charge Sanusi denied in an interview with The Associated Press.

Sanusi said "Nobody knows how much is missing" but "I think it is very, very close to 20 billion" dollars.