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| Former President Jonathan addresses students at Oxford University |
Former President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday said it was impossible
for the National Security Adviser (NSA) during his administration, Sambo
Dasuki, to have stolen $2.2 billion as claimed by the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Mr. Dasuki, who has been in detention since December 1, 2015, was
arrested by the State Security Service for allegedly misappropriating
$2.2 billion meant to purchase equipment for the Nigerian military in
its battle against the terrorist Boko Haram group.
A Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abuja, last Friday granted an
application by the EFCC to consolidate two separate cases against the
former army Colonel.
A statement by the anti-graft commission said Mr. Dasuki would be re-arraigned on November 16.
Mr. Jonathan, who spoke at the famous Oxford Union, Oxford United
Kingdom, on youth entrepreneurship, argued that it was “not just
possible” for Mr. Dasuki to have stolen $2.2 billion after his
administration procured several equipment for the country’s military.
“They said the National Security Adviser stole $2.2billion. I don’t
believe somebody can just steal $2.2 billion. We bought warships, we
bought aircraft, we bought lots of weapons for the army and so on and so
forth and you are still saying 2.2 billion, so where did we get the
money to buy all those things?” he asked while responding to a question
about the alleged missing arms procurement fund now referred to as
Dasukigate by the Nigerian media.
While admitting that corruption was an issue during his
administration, the former president said some of the allegations were
“exaggerated”.
“Yes, there were some issues; yes, there are still corruption issues;
but some of it were blown, I’d say exaggerated, and they give a very
bad impression about our nation. You cannot say the national security
adviser stole $2.2billion. It is not just possible,” he said.
He, however, said that as some of the corruption cases were still in
court, he would rather allow the legal processes to reveal the facts of
the matter and that he did not want to appear as challenging the
incumbent government.
“One thing about the issue of corruption is that these matters are in
court, let’s allow some of these processes to end. Lately some judges’
(homes) were also invaded. There are so many things involved and we have
to follow up these matters to conclusion before we know the fact.
“I don’t want to be seen as a former president challenging what the
sitting government is doing so I have decided to keep quiet for the
court to look into them,” he said.
He said allegations of corruption were not unique to his administration.
He explained that governments had been overthrown in the past because
they were accused of being corrupt, only for the new administration
itself to be pushed out by another junta touting the anti-corruption
mantra.
“You will see that it has become a major topic whenever there is a change of government,” he said.
He further argued that corruption was a global problem, but said the perception of corruption was greater in Nigeria due to the Nigerian media’s obsession with reporting on corruption.
“I am not saying there is no corruption in Nigeria, there is
corruption. If you look at corruption there is almost no country that is
free, the degree varies, the perception varies,” he said.
“Transparency International talks about the way corruption is being
perceived in different economies, why do we talk about the way
corruption is being perceived, it depends on the issue raised in the
media every day.”
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