Vangaurd.Com:
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/
No comments:
Post a Comment