Supporters and admirers of ex- President Goodluck Jonathan are in the cold, reeling in despair taking deep breaths, and counting the ease and bumps of a journey that once looked fortuitous. And the pervading gloom is not for fun. Dark clouds are gathering, foretelling presentiments that their idol is fast cascading on the road to infamy, and, perhaps to prison. The fellow feeling, contrivances of forced peace and rapport between him and his successor, President Muhammadu Buhari have paled into brim. The dirt and scum of the ex-president’s stint in office are ferreting out with the speed and haste of a cheetah. The long arms of the law are gradually and stealthily encircling him. The apprehension in the air all over is that he is headed for the Golgotha. His friends are running around seeking help and “forgiveness.” But his “predator” has the long memory of a serpent. His cold aloofness and disposition to the pleas suggests a short walk to jail for Jonathan. But they are not giving up. The phones are working. Networks are building up. The hands of the emissaries are hard on the till.
The bubble burst when a Presidential Investigation Committee in its interim report revealed that it found extra- budgetary spending by Jonathan’s administration to the tune of N643.8bn, and an additional $2.2bn in the foreign currency component; all managed and supervised by the former National Security Adviser, NSA, Col Sambo Dasuki, retd, who is currently undergoing trial.
To further poke a stick to the festering ulcer, he and Dasuki were also alleged to have withdrawn $600million two weeks to the March 28, 2015 presidential elections. The style, formulae and nature of the sharing of the hefty sum have left Nigerians in deep awe and shock. So far, Jonathan’s responses have been tepid, clearly unreassuringly, and dripping of all the elements of certainty.
At a forum in Washington DC penultimate week 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 Centre for Strategic and International Studies, CSIS, he queried off-handedly” Where did the money come from? I did not award contracts of $2billion for procurement of weapons.” He said further: “Sometimes I feel sad when people mention these figures,” apparently referring to the huge sums of money said to have been misappropriated under him. He continued; “When the president paid official visit to the US, there were some figures that were mentioned that I don’t believe. People play politics with very serious issues.” He was equally dismissive of people who allege that the sum of $59.8million was misappropriated within a 12-month period while he was in office. Again, his defense was facile, smug and flat.” In Nigeria, if you lose $59.8million in a year, federal and state governments will not pay salaries,” adding that there is no way the Nigerian budget can accommodate such a loss without the country grounding to a halt. Still fighting feebly to keep himself out of the mess, he said pointedly: “Of course we brought international audit firms, forensic auditors and they didn’t see that.” Sounding almost despondent, he regretfully added that he had battled in vain to refrain from joining issues with Buhari. “I wanted to keep away from the public for at least 12 months.” But tried as hard as he could to don the garb of innocence the stick keeps pointing at him. The man at the heart of the matter, Dasuki keeps saying repeatedly that he did not act alone. He has stoutly defended his actions as having the seal and imprimatur of the ex-president. He insists that all contracts and accruing payments were made based on the approval of Jonathan, adding that due process and military procurement regulations were followed in the transactions. “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 National Security Adviser, the president will approve application for payment.”
His ascription to Jonathan as the man behind the mask did not end with supplies of military equipment only. He also put approval for some sundry payments on Jonathan’s table. Recounting the disbursements of $10billion to delegates during the presidential primary of the PDP which produced him as the candidate, Dasuki said he was directed to do so by Jonathan. “I gave it to Jonathan’s Senior Special Assistant on Household, Waripamowei Dudafa, and the Aide-de-Camp”
To add more fuel to the raging inferno, a former accounts officer II, in the office of the former NSA, Ibrahim Idris Wambai in his confessional statement to the EFCC claimed he made several cash payments to a number of Jonathan’s aides. Indeed, Sunday Sun learnt that despite the mounting allegations against Jonathan, former presidents and other influential Nigerians have distanced themselves from him, and refrained from putting in some words for him. To give further indication that there is no sacred cow and the noose will soon tighten on Jonathan, his Deputy, Namadi Sambo may be invited this week to throw more light on the revelation that his office got a monthly stipend of N20million from the office of the former NSA.
But the PDP is not ready to allow Jonathan sink or humiliated without a fight. Apparently incensed with the direction the probes are going, the party through the National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh demanded that the probe of the presidential campaign funding should unearth how much the APC controlled states contributed to the campaign that brought Buhari to power. He challenged the Federal Government to set up a National Truth Commission wherein politicians and other Nigerians would publicly discuss the true meaning of corrupt practices in the land. The party further demanded that the investigation should cover the security votes of all past presidents and heads of state from 1984, and the award of contracts by the Petroleum Trust Fund from 1995 to 1999. Other areas Metuh listed for investigation are the expenditure of military purchases and expenditure during the Bakassi wars, the fight against militancy in the Niger Delta, military interventions in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Somalia and Rwanda, among others.
“Nevertheless, if indeed President Muhammadu Buhari, in anyway whatsoever, desires to probe his opponent in the presidential election, he should come out straight instead of going round in circles,” the party concluded in the statement. But while the PDP is struggling to extricate Jonathan from the intricate web of allegations of corrupt practices, former President Olusegun Obasanjo is fighting hard to rein him in. Sunday Sun learnt that he on December 10, 2015, in the aftermath of the revelations from the arms purchase scandal implored President Buhari to send Jonathan to jail, using two of the cases where he recklessly granted undeserving approvals. He was said to have told Buhari that “sending him to jail will be the perfect condition of fixing this country and setting the right example that no one is above the law.” It is not yet certain if the advice is being heeded.
In 2013, Prophet Marcus Tibetan, the parish head of Celestial Church of Christ, Elisha parish had prophesied about Jonathan dropping 10 ministers and losing a loved one that year. It came to pass when his younger brother died. The prophet equally warned him to pray against a seven-year jail term. The same prophet predicted the fall of PDP, the disgraceful exit from politics of former Senate president, David Mark, and the fall and exit from politics of the former national chairman of the PDP Alhaji Bamanga Tukur.
On August 12, 2015, the National Peace Committee led by a former military head of state, Gen Abdulsalami Abubakar, retd visited Buhari on a mission to mend fences between the president and Jonathan. The duo signed a peace accord ahead of the March 28 presidential elections at the instance of the committee. Members of the committee who were at the villa were the Sultan of Sokoto Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar IV, National President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, Abuja Catholic Archbishop, Cardinal John Onaiyekan, Primate of the Church of Nigeria Anglican Communion, Most Rev Nicholas Okoh, a former president of the Nigeria Bar Association, NBA, Mrs. Priscilla Kuye, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Bishop Mathew Kukah, and Senator Ben Obi. The meeting came a few days after Jonathan paid a visit to Buhari.
The sun
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