Immediate-past President
Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday, debunked
allegations that his administration awarded
contract for arms procurement to the tune of $2
billion.Jonathan, who spoke in Washington DC,
on “Presidential elections and democratic
consolidation in Africa: Case studies on Nigeria
and Tanzania,” a conversational forum, co-hosted
by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and
the Center for Strategic and InternationalStudies
(CSIS), stated categorically that “I did not award
any $2 billion contract for procurement of
weapons.”Former President Goodluck
JonathanJonathan queried,
“Where did the money come from? “I did not
award a contract of $2billion for procurement of
weapons,” reports Premium Times.At the forum
moderated by USIP Senior Advisor to the US
President and member,NDI Board of Directors,
Ambassador Johnnie Carson, Jonathan also
shared his views on those elections and their
significance in the consolidation of democratic
progress in Tanzania.He also discussed the
recent political transition in Nigeria, as well as
the prospects for improved governance in the
country.
Recall that on Tuesday, a presidential
investigations committee into arms procurement
under the administration ofex-President Jonathan
revealed in its interim report that it found extra-
budgetary spending by the Jonathan
administration to the tune of N643.8 billion and
an additional $2.2 billion in the foreign currency
component, all managed and supervised by ex-
National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki
(retd).But in a swift reaction, Dasuki had said ina
statement Wednesday, said that all contracts
and accruing payments were made based on the
approval of ex-President Jonathan, adding that
due process and military procurement regulations
were followed in all the transactions.Dasuki said:
“Nigerians should note that all the services
generated the types of equipment needed,
sourced suppliers most times and after
consideration by the Office of the NSA, the
President will approve application for payment.”
But Mr. Jonathan said he never awarded any
$2billion arms contract, suggesting that the
claims by the Buhari administration were false
and unsubstantiated. Mr. Dasuki had also argued
along that line.Mr. Jonathan touched on the
contract issue after he stated that he was aware
of allegations of huge sums of money that were
said to be missing from the Nigerian treasury,
but he claimed that some of the figures
mentioned are not believable. “Sometimes, I feel
sad when people mention these figures,” he
added.Speaking pointedly about his successor,
President Jonathan said,
“When the President (Buhari) paid official visit to
the US, there were some figures that were
mentioned that I don’t believe.”He drew attention
to figures like the$150billion alleged to have
been stolen in previous Nigerian administrations,
but Mr.
Jonathan scoffed at the probability of “$150
billion American money” being missing and
“Americans will not know where it is,” adding
that at any rate President Buhari did not accuse
his administration.
“He didn’t say my government, he said previous
administrations… “$150 billion is not 150 billion
Naira,” he stated, suggesting that
“People play politics with very serious issues.”
The former president was equally dismissive of
people who alleged that the sum of $59.8 million
was misappropriated within a 12-month period
while he was in office.
“In Nigeria, if you lose $59.8 million in a year,
federal and state governments will not pay
salaries,” he said, adding that there is no way
Nigerian budget can accommodate such a loss
without the country coming to a standstill.“
Of course we brought international auditteams,
forensic auditors and they didn’t see that,” he
said.
The former President said he does not want to
join issues with the new government, “I wanted
to keep away from the public for at least twelve
months.”
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/11/2b-arms-
procurement-jonathan-finally-speaks/
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