EFCC explained, yesterday, why it has not arrested former
President Goodluck Jonathan following startling revelations
on how the former National Security Adviser, NSA, Col
Sambo Dasuki (retd) allegedly disbursed over $2.1 billion
meant for arms purchase to various individuals.
Alarmed by the revelations, the National leadership of the
Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has, however, asked Dr
Jonathan to speak out.
This came as the anti-graft commission disclosed that one
of the beneficiaries, the former Military Administrator of
Kaduna State, Mr. Jafaru Isah had returned N100m out of
the N170m he collected and was given administrative bail
to source for the balance of N70m.
Another beneficiary, the former Secretary to the Government
of the Federation and leader of the Social Democratic Party,
SDP, Chief Olu Falae however insisted that he would not
refund the N100 million he collected from Chief Tony
Anenih, which was said to have come from Dasuki.
Facts have also emerged how former Chairman of Board of
Trustees, BoT of the PDP, Chief Tony Anenih and Chief Olu
Falae entered into a working relationship prior to the 2015
presidential election.
Explaining why the former president has not been arrested
while speaking with online news publishers yesterday, in
Lagos, the EFCC boss, Mr Ibrahim Magu said that no
document has been traced to Jonathan giving any approval
for the disbursement of the money for any purpose other
than arms purchase.
He said that all those questioned so far in connection with
the money were people who disbursed or collected it for
reasons other than the purchase of arms and ammunition.
“All approvals by former president Jonathan did not
mention that it was for political purposes.
All the memos approved by him were for the purchase of
arms,” he said.
Speaking about Olisa Metuh, the EFCC boss revealed that
the national publicity secretary of the Peoples Democratic
Party said he would rather go on hunger strike than refund
the N400 million he allegedly collected from Dasuki.
Maga also said that Patrick Akpobolokemi, a former boss of
Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, was
recently re-arrested after new evidences of alleged
embezzlement of N34.5 billion and another N600 million
were linked to him.
The EFCC chairman stressed that the war against graft was
not selective and assured Nigerians that his agency was not
teleguided in the ongoing anti-corruption fight.
According to PDP, since former President Jonathan was still
alive, he should come out and explain to Nigerians whether
he authorized his former National Security Adviser to
distribute money meant to fight Boko Haram into his
campaign.
Addressing Journalists yesterday in Abuja, PDP Deputy
National Publicity Secretary Abdullahi Jalo said, Goodluck
Ebele Jonathan is alive, he should clarify whether he asked
the National Security Adviser to distribute money meant to
fight Boko Haram into his campaign.
According to Jalo, “Jonathan is alive, he should clarify
whether he asked the National Security Adviser to distribute
money meant to fight Boko Haram into his campaign. What
is important for one to know is that former President
Goodluck Jonathan is alive. Has he ever said go and take
the money for arms meant for Boko Haram to campaign for
me? Is there anytime that Jonathan asked for anything from
either Dasuki to go and distribute this money meant for
fighting Boko Haram for his campaign?
“As you all know, no single kobo will be spent by the federal
government or former President Goodluck Jonathan without
the Act of the National Assembly. Some people however
decided to divert this money to something else.
“Darkness has now come to light, we have now discovered
that it is not only PDP members who collected the money
but those in APGA collected, Falae collected, Tanko Yakasai
collected. They all collected the money under the guise that
they are campaigning for Goodluck Jonathan.
“It is known to us that money meant for campaign are given
to the national chairmen of various political parties. We had
a dinner in the banquet hall where some billions were
collected meant for campaign for Jonathan. That money
was meant for campaign. Dangote, Otedola and others
donated. So why would somebody tell us that you are
taking money meant to fight Boko Haram, which is from an
Act of the National Assembly. Any money appropriated is
coming from consolidated account of the federal
government and its usage must be meant for that”.
The PDP which also disowned the embattled National
Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh who has remained
detained by the officials of the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission, EFCC, said that as a party, it will not
fight for his bail and others who have been alleged to be
involved in the arms deal scam because they did that on
personal levels and not on the platform of the party.
According to Jalo, “the issue of bail does not have anything
to do with PDP. Let them tell us how much they have
brought to PDP, to the national chairman and the money
used for campaign, we want to know from them.
“PDP has nothing to do with individuals that used their
companies to get money. PDP has no company, it is a
political platform. There is PDP account and they did not
even inform the PDP that they had received this money, they
just went and slept with their families eating eggs and rice.”
Jalo who noted that public should not misconstrue the
unfolding issues with that of the PDP, said that individuals
that were presently involved, accessed public funds through
their various private companies and not the PDP even
though they were members of the party. He added that the
Arms fund were an appropriation of the National Assembly
to which the former President and Dasuki Sambo were
aware of and were aware of the limit of using the funds
other than what it was meant for.
The PDP deputy National Publicity Secretary said, “There
are a lot of outcries against our members that have been
taken to court because they received money from what we
called Dasukigate or arms deal.
“The former acting National Chairman, Dr. Bello Haliru, who
was taken to court is now on bail, he has a company Pam
Proper and Property limited, he was given N600 million
under a registered company of Corporate Affairs
Commission, you can find out what the contract was meant
for. Has he done what he was asked to do with the N600
million?
“Olisa Metuh’s company is Destral investment limited, he
was given a job of N400 million. What has that got to do
with PDP, you can bear me witness, when Olisa was
accusing Lai Mohammed that he collected a contract from
one of the states in the West, even Lai Mohammed took him
to court, so now the hunter is now the hunted. Lai’s case
has not been proved, Olisa is under investigation.
“Let us put the record straight. We want anyone of these
people that have been accused whether in PDP, APGA or
APC to come out and tell us that the money they collected,
was given to PDP or their party. When he was given this
money was he given the money to go and campaign for
Jonathan, if yes let him show us the paper, let him present
an evidence, but whoever was given this money should
know that this money was not meant for that, it was meant
for arms purchase.
“Thank God the party has kept quiet deliberately, maybe,
because some have benefited. If we cannot clean the party
now, the future is going to be bleak.
“If the Legal Adviser of PDP, rushes to go and bail out Olisa
Metuh now he is doing the wrong thing, because he has to
separate the party and Olisa as an individual.
Go, bring balance of N170m cash traced to you, EFCC tells
Jafaru Isah
Meanwhile, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
confirmed on Monday that it had retrieved N100 million out
of the N170 million traced to the account of the former
Military Administrator of Kaduna State, Mr. Jafaru Isah.
The Chairman of the EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, confirmed the
retrieval of the cash from Isah, adding that it was the partial
refund that informed his administrative bail to enable him to
go and source for the balance.
Magu, who made the disclosure in response to criticism that
he quickly released the APC chieftain and close associate of
President Buhari while holding onto Olisa Metuh of the
opposition PDP, said that the refund was not a guaranty that
the suspect would not be prosecuted for receiving public
funds illegally.
Jafaru Isah
There has been a furore over the ‘sudden’ release of Isah
from EFCC custody while other suspects duly granted bail
by the courts, are still being held by the anti-graft agency.
The opposition PDP believes its key figures, who received
huge cash from the office of the National Security Adviser
and are being detained by the EFCC, are being persecuted
notwithstanding their admission that they indeed, received
the said cash for election purposes.
But in the case of Jafaru Isah, the amount of N170 million
traced to him is said to have been paid by the embattled ex-
NSA, Sambo Dasuki, to enable him to acquire a property in
Kano State for him.
The deal, it was gathered did not go through, as a member
of the Jonathan cabinet paid a higher amount of money for
the same building which Isah was billed to buy for Dasuki.
Isah, who was arrested by the EFCC last week, is said to be
a close friend of Dasuki and a political associate of
President Buhari, although Buhari did not know about the
N170 million deal with Dasuki.
The Presidency immediately distanced itself from Isah upon
his arrest, making it clear that it would not interfere in his
prosecution by the EFCC.
An aide of the President told Vanguard in confidence that
although Jafaru Isah was a close political ally of President
Buhari, the first citizen would nonetheless remain neutral in
the matter in line with his avowed position to deal
decisively with corruption.
While describing Isah as a political ally, who had been with
Buhari from the days of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples
Party to the Congress for Progressive Change, the aide
made it clear that the long relationship did not in any way
suggest that Buhari was associated with the collection of
N170 million from the Office of the National Adviser by the
embattled politician.
The aide said: “It is true that Isah has been with Buhari from
the days of the ANPP and CPC and was equally a member of
the Transition Committee and actually headed the Defence
Committee but that does not mean that Buhari knows
anything about the N100 million said to have been collected
by the man from the ONSA.”
Jafaru, who was a military administrator of Kaduna State
from December 1993 to August 1996 during the military
regime of General Sani Abacha and one-time governorship
candidate of the defunct CPC in Kano State, is also
described as a close friend of the embattled ex-NSA,
Dasuki, who is facing multiple charges over money
laundering and breach of public trust in three courts.
Arms deal :I won’t return N100 million, says Chief Falae
National Chairman of the Social Democratic Party, Chief Olu
Falae, yesterday, said he would not refund the N100 million
he collected from Chief Tony Anenih, which has been
alleged to have come from the former National Security
Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki.
Chief Falae, explained that the amount was given to him for
onward delivery to his party, to assist sell ex-President
Goodluck Jonathan’s second term bid, saying it was not
paid through the office of the former NSA.
To this end, he has asked the government to hold Anenih,
former Board of Trustees of the PDP, the source of the
money rather than either himself or his party.
Speaking at a press conference, in Abuja, through the
party’s National Publicity Secretary, Dr. Abdul Ahmed
Isaiq, Falae insisted that his party would not return any
money to the government coffers, since the money it got
was neither from Col. Dasuki nor Office of the National
Security Adviser.
He explained that the money was as a result of electoral
alliance his party entered with the then ruling Peoples
Democratic Party, to deliver the then President Goodluck
Jonathan in his re-election quest.
He said those who were returning money to the government
were those who got money directly from the Office of the
former NSA, saying he cannot be part, since he did not get
the money from Dasuki or the office he was occupying.
*Chief Olu Falae
“In terms of refund of money, I want to say here that those
people who are refunding money are those who got their
money directly from the arms deal fund.
“Our fund did not come from the arms deal, our fund came
from an electoral alliance with the PDP and we knew that
the PDP had a fund raising committee that gathered billions
of naira and PDP had been in government for 16 years.
“ So, with that, we knew that the PDP had the capacity to
fund the alliance that was formed with them by the SDP, he
explained.
“You don’t postulate what you don’t have on the ground,
you can’t build on a non foundation.
“We, as a political party knew that the PDP was a capable
hand in the electoral alliance which we entered with them.
And we equally knew that the PDP had a fund raising,
where it generated over N20 billion down.
“So, whether the money came from Col. Sambo Dasuki or
his office, is what we don’t know and it is left for them to
ask Chief Tony Anenih to explain, “he added.
He emphasized:” “We knew that the PDP had been ruling
Nigeria for 16 years. So, this was the basis of our electoral
alliance with them.
“We can’t refund any money to anybody because the money
we got as a party came because of the alliance we had with
the PDP and we have the agreement note from this alliance.
“If it is possible that the money Chief Anenih gave us was
from the arms deal, it is left for them to ask Chief Anenih to
clarify. As far as we knew, we did not have any dealing with
Dasuki.
“ Our office did not ever have anything to do with the office
or person of the National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo
Dasuki. “
Dr Abdul explained that prior to the 2015 presidential
election, the SDP was approached by the Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP through its BOT chairman, Chief
Tony Anenih, for electoral alliance for the re-election bid of
the former President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan.
He said Chief Olu Falae, being the national chairman of
SDP, summoned the National Executive Committee, NEC of
SDP to a well-attended meeting to consider the PDP’s
proposal of electoral alliance for the re-election bid of the
former President, Goodluck Jonathan, since SDP did not
field a presidential candidate of its own, saying the money
that the SDP was given, which he noted, was being alleged
to have come from the arms deal fund, was as a result of
the alliance.
He, however, said, his party was in full support of the
ongoing fight against corruption, saying anyone found
wanting should be prosecuted according to the laws of the
land.
“If you look at the cardinal principles of the Social
Democratic Party, one of the basic ones is that of zero
tolerance to corruption. So, anywhere there is fight against
corruption, SDP is in support, once it is done according to
the ambit of the law.
“ In terms of the misappropriation of arms deal fund, as a
party, I want to say that anybody who violates the law
should face the consequences, “he added.
2015 presidential poll: How Anenih, Falae sealed PDP/SDP
working cooperation
Fresh facts are beginning to emerge on how former
Chairman of Board of Trustees, BoT of the Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Tony Anenih and former
Secretary to the Government of the Federation and leader of
the Social Democratic Party, SDP, Chief Olu Falae entered
into a working relationship prior to the 2015 presidential
election.
A letter which was accessed by Vanguard yesterday
buttressed the political marriage entered into by PDP with
Chief Anenih on one hand and the National Chairman of the
SDP, Chief Olu Falae on the other hand against the
backdrop that the SDP had no presidential candidate for the
2015 Presidential election as there was the need for PDP’s
candidate, former President Goodluck Jonathan to be
supported.
The letter by Chief Tony Anenih, the then Chairman of PDP
BoT was dated January 26, 2015 and it confirmed the claim
by Chief Olu Falae that there was inter-party cooperation
between the PDP and the SDP to support Jonathan’s
presidential ambition.
The PDP through Chief Anenih had agreed to the six issues
raised by the SDP before it could support the re-election bid
of President Goodluck Jonathan in last year’s presidential
election.
Falae, who admitted that he received on behalf of the SDP
the sum of N100 million from the PDP through Anenih,
following the agreement to work together, told an online
newspaper-Premium Times-that the money was distributed
to all the state branches of the SDP.
Chief Falae had also stated elsewhere that his party, which
did not have a candidate for the presidential election,
decided to work for the actualization of Jonathan’s re-
election after the PDP agreed to the six issues it placed on
the negotiation table.
Anenih’s letter had clearly responded to the six issues, thus
paving the way for the PDP-SDP working cooperation.
The letter, entitled: “Inter-Party Co-operation” and signed
by Anenih in his capacity as Chairman of the Board of
Trustees of the PDP reads: “I write to sincerely thank you
for your letter dated January 23,2015, on the above subject
matter.
“After due consultations with relevant stakeholders of our
party, I am pleased to convey to you our decisions on the
issues and to further inform you that the President and the
leadership of our party have expressed delight and strong
optimism to fully cooperate and work with the SDP in the
circumstance.
“On the implementation of the report of the 2014 National
Conference” that “Please be assured that the report of the
National Conference will be implemented to the letter. We
believe that having regards to the fact that the National
Conference was a baby of the President, he is in a better
position to implement it. And this is what he is doing.”
On “zero tolerance to corruption”, Anenih had responded
thus : “There is no doubt that our party, the PDP and your
party, the SDP, are on the same page on this issue. Apart
from the fact that this administration has done more arrests,
investigations, prosecutions and convictions of corrupt
cases, the President has continuously laid emphasis on the
need to develop an appropriate technology to
comprehensively combat corruption and its vices.
“The approach, for example, has produced immense results
in eliminating corruption that was associated with the
distribution of fertilizers in Nigeria in the past.”
On “intensification of efforts to defeat insurgency”, he said:
“it is the primary duty of Government to protect the lives
and property of its citizens and secure the territorial
integrity of the nation. This Government has consistently
made efforts to deal with the challenges of Boko Haram who
have established their operational base somewhere between
some States in the North-East of the country and the
boundary with some of our neighbouring African countries.
“Terrorism has become a global phenomenon and fighting it
requires the co-operation of not just the entire citizens but
the support of the international community. The President
is working on this. In his recent visit to Borno and in a rally
in Maiduguri few days ago, he assured the people that every
inch of Nigerian soil currently under the control of
insurgents will be recovered in no distant time.”
No comments:
Post a Comment