….. Says Aircraft, Warships, Arms bought by
his administration
Former
President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has said that it was impossible for his
former National Security Adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki, to have stolen $2.2
billion as being accused by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC).
Responding
to questions after his lecture on Youth Entrepreneurship at the famous Oxford
Union in the United Kingdom, former President Goodluck Jonathan, said: “They said the National Security Adviser (Sambo
Dasuki) 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?
“Yes, there
were some issues. Yes, there are still corruption issues but some of it were
over 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.”
To avoid
sounding confrontational with the current government, Mr Jonathan explained
that some of the corruption cases were still in court and would rather allow
the legal processes to reveal the facts of the matter.
He said: “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 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
allegations of corruption were not unique to his administration or the country.
He said: “You will see that it has become a major topic whenever there is a
change of government … 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.
“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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