LAGOS — Nigeria's naira currency has crashed and financial markets closed on news that President Goodluck Jonathan has suspended the Central Bank governor who disclosed billions of petrodollars are missing from the coffers of Africa's biggest oil producer. Financial analysts say the naira plummeted from 163 to 169 to the US dollar when Jonathan's statement became public. The Nigerian Stock Exchange stopped trading. Analyst Bismarck Rewane said the development is “very disruptive” and warned of “a very difficult time” for the naira and the Nigerian financial market in the near-term. He says the suspension from a position held in high reverence increases uncertainty as Nigeria prepares for a hotly contested presidential election next year. Jonathan Thursday accused Central Bank governor Lamido Sanusi of “financial recklessness” and replaced him with a deputy governor. – AP
