Nigeria’s outspoken Central Bank Governor Sanusi Lamido was suspended Thursday by President Goodluck Jonathan on allegations of financial mismanagement and not complying with procurement procedures. Following his suspension, the country’s currency, bond and money markets stopped trading on fears the markets would tank.

He spoke to Sahara TV about his suspension and said he will pursue legal action to determine the legality of his suspension since a central bank governor in Nigeria enjoy security of tenure by law.

Trading in the naira currency resumed after the central bank intervened with dollar sales, by which time debt markets were closed. The intervention enabled the naira to rebound from a record low of 169 to the dollar to 165, dealers said, its biggest one-day swing since a December 2009 devaluation, Reuters reported.

Sanusi’s five years term as the central bank governor was scheduled to end in June this year. He had presented evidence to parliament that showed the state oil company Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) failed to remit $20 billion that it owed to federal government coffers, claims NNPC denied.