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Review… Dasukigate: The drama, the twists

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In from Timothy Enietan-Matthews…

The ongoing investigation into what has variously been termed Dasukigate and Armsgate, ingenious terminologies describing the arms procurement scandal currently rocking the country, no doubt qualifies as the highpoint of investigating corruption cases in the history of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. It’s the biggest, not just in terms of the amount of money allegedly involved ($2.1 billion) but also because of the big names that have been implicated and the sheer drama and twists introduced into it at different turns.

$2.1 billion is no doubt a humongous amount of money in this clime, considering the widespread poverty and deprivation under which Nigerians are currently living. The purpose for which the money was allegedly meant to be put, procurement of arms for the prosecution of the war against the Boko Haram insurgency, also made the scandal one of the worst and most controversial in the history of Nigeria.

The Boko Haram insurgency angle has no doubt set Nigerians of good conscience on the edge, leading to widespread condemnation of those that have been named in the scandal and a tacit declaration of a guilty verdict on them even before the courts have had the chance of trying the supposed suspects.

However, in as much as the EFCC is seen largely by Nigerians to be up and doing with their investigation and prosecution endeavours, the whole process has not been without dramas and curious twists.

To start with, Nigerians, who obviously belong to the opposition, have cried foul over what is perceived as a lopsided fight against corruption, insisting that only the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, figures and chieftains are being hounded. This may not be without credibility, as at the last count, not fewer than 12 PDP chieftains have been arrested, detained and charged to court or simply held in perpetual detention.

Curiously, the arrest and detention of a chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and political associate of President Muhammadu Buhari, Jafaru Issa, took the $2.1 billion scandal to a new level. For those who have followed the investigation and prosecution closely, Jafaru Issa’s case opened a new ground in the process. Before the arrest and release of Issa, the EFCC was silent on the option of ‘refund, go home and do no more wrong’.

The anti-graft agency only came out to tell the world about the possibility of paying back the money collected as a way of avoiding prosecution after the deal with the APC chieftain, Jafaru Issa. The question is, was the involvement of an APC and Buhari man responsible for that option? Or has that been on the table before him, without the EFCC making it public? This is left with the Commission to clarify!

Also, some of the people named as beneficiaries of the alleged fraudulent disbursement of the money have categorically stated that they are not willing to make refunds because they did not collect money from the embattled former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki. This much was said by former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Olu Falae and first republic presidential aide, Tanko Yakassai.

According to Falae, he collected money from Chief Tony Anenih and not from Dasuki based on a political alliance between his party, the Social Democratic Party, SDP. Falae insisted that there was no way he could know that the money he collected came from what was earmarked for the procurement of arms.

Falae, who spoke at a press briefing in Abuja through the party’s National Publicity Secretary, said if the EFCC needs a refund, it should approach Anenih.
In the same vein, Tanko Yakassai, who claimed he collected money from Anenih, said he would not return any money because what was given to him has been expended on the purpose it was meant for.

According to him, the money was meant for transport, accommodation and allowances for the members of his “nine prominent northerners” who participated in peace building efforts before the 2015 general elections.

Yakassai also has some harsh words for the President Buhari-led administration’s anti-corruption war. According to him, the exercise is a mere propaganda war which has unfortunately won over right thinking men like Prof. Wole Soyinka.

Read also: Dasukigate: More controversies trail Falae’s N100m
Yakassai, who chairs the Northern Elders’ Council, said any fight against corruption must be holistic rather than being centred on just an individual, even as he condemned the administration for its open disdain for valid court orders.

He said: “The Federal Government of Nigeria is only fighting Sambo Dasuki. Should the fight against corruption begin and end with Dasuki? Is he the only “corrupt” person? Till today, they have not even started his case in the court. He was granted bail twice and they refused to let him go. This is not a fight against corruption. It is a propaganda fight.

“They even convinced people like Prof. Wole Soyinka who now believes that there is a fight against corruption, but there is no such thing. Otherwise, how many people have they arrested?

“All the people that are arrested today are connected with Dasuki. No other person has been picked. What of the governors, ministers, top civil servants and local government officials? Can you fight one person and say you are fighting corruption?” he queried.

Beyond that, findings revealed that the much bandied figure of $2.1billion does not represent the money entrusted to Dasuki, but the sum total of monies that have been voted as defence budget in the last few years. This money, according to sources, where summed together by the panel put together by the Buhari administration.

It is instructive to note that the panel has not said such amount of money is missing or has been mismanaged. For one, nobody has said the report of the panel has been submitted or let the public into what it is. Unfortunately, Nigerians have been fed with the story that Dasuki presided over the illegal sharing of $2.1 billion.

Another aspect of the Dasukigate that some right thinking Nigerians are beginning to re-examine is the resistance of the federal government to accede to the preference of the embattled NSA to a public trial instead of the secret trial preferred by the agents of the Buhari administration.

Those who are in the know say the FG insisted on the secret trial of Dasuki because it is certain that what the former NSA is being hounded for has nothing to do with arms money but Jonathan and Sambo’s security votes. These security votes, in practice, do not have any hard rule as to how they are to be spent by the incumbent occupier of the office involved. Sources close to the case say Dasuki is being denied freedom to prevent him from telling his side of the story.

To buttress the above, the informed sources averred that the $1billion arms loans approved by the National Assembly were remitted to arms dealers and countries that sold arms to Nigeria directly, insisting that no kobo from the loan entered Nigeria.

What is however still interesting in the ongoing drama with Dasukigate is the fear the almighty FG is entertaining in not allowing Dasuki out of detention despite the fact that he has been granted bail on two occasions by courts with competent jurisdiction? Why has, in the words of Yakassai, the war against corruption centred on one person, Dasuki, and those connected to him. Is the FG not risking a renaming of the anti-corruption war to ‘Anti-Dasuki War’? Only time shall tell!

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