Politics
Dasukigate: I’ll talk at the right time, Jonathan says
Former President Goodluck Jonathan has said that he would speak on the $2.1 billion arms procurement scandal involving his former National Security Adviser (NSA) Col. Sambo Dasuki, in which a number of prominent politicians in the country have also been enmeshed.
The former president in a number of tweets stated that he would not want to comment on the matter now, as his remarks could jeopardise legal proceedings since the matter was before the courts.
He said, “I would not want to interfere with the proceeding by the judicial system that my administration worked tirelessly to strengthen”.
Jonathan while also speaking at the Geneva Press Club on Security, and Development in Africa, the former president also said: “I would not like to comment now because the matter is in court. I cannot comment. Definitely, I will speak. My Comment now may affect witnesses and the judicial process.
“When I was President, I tried to build institutions like the Judiciary and separation of power and the electoral bodies. I should not be the one undermining the process.”
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The former President at the event, fielded questions on a number of issues like the Chibok Girls, Boko Haram,the economy and corruption.
Pressed to comment on the huge amounts of money allegedly embezzled by some members of his administration, the former President said: “I have an idea about some of the corruption cases you are talking about. The amount being mentioned in some cases are so huge, sometimes people think I was Nigeria’s President since independence. Sometimes, people just bandy figures. I remember somebody said we lost $49 billion in 18 months.
‘’The same man who made the allegation reduced the figure to 12 billion. I got forensic experts to probe the books of NNPC to ascertain the veracity of the allegation. I even remember asking the German Chancelor who said if that amount of money was missing in her country, it would be a big issue.
‘’The truth of the matter is that if we lose such amount of money within 18 months as the allegation said, the country will collapse.’’
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