Why ex-president channelled money through Dasuki – PDP chieftain

A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State, Dr Tony Aziegbemi has explained why former president, Goodluck Jonathan decided to channel his 2015 campaign funds through former National Security Adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki.

Aziegbemi, a former member of the House of Representatives, made the disclosure during a recent interview with Vanguard.

Excerpts below:

What’s your reaction to insinuations that the ongoing anti-corruption war is one sided?

I did not vote for Buhari in the last presidential election and I am so happy that I voted for former President Goodluck Eble Jonathan. I am happy that I did. Having said that, I think with Buhari at the helm of affairs in this country, Nigerians are in for a one chance bus. We are doomed for disaster; Buhari does not have the capacity to lead this country.

Buhari knows and if he doesn’t know, that is a pity, that the office of the National Security Adviser is an office that is made to give security cover to the government of the day in whatsoever form or shape.

Security cover

He knows that the money he is talking about that the National Security Adviser gave to many people is not money from the budget of the nation. It is not. He should know if he doesn’t know that the office of the National Security Adviser will be there after him and he is trying to rubbish that office.

The President knows that the office of the National Security Adviser can and is mostly used for some of those things he is accusing Col. Sambo Dasuki of. So, what Buhari is doing is shamelessly probing the political funds of the PDP though the backdoor. That is what he is doing with the Dasukigate.

I can hazard a guess that there are over twenty different accounts in the office of the National Security Adviser and not all monies that come into the office of National Security Adviser are meant for the purchase of arms. Not. If not, where did the National Security Adviser get the money to buy the three Bullet Proof Jeeps they gave him after he was attacked and almost assassinated by Boko – Haram? That money was not taken from the account meant for the Armed forces.

Everything he does is to ‘see my perceived enemies languishing in jail, in detention.’ Whether that will be good for the nation, that is not his business as far as he makes sure that is what will happen.

The man has lost the capacity to rule this country, but thank God that four years is not too far, we trust the judgment of Nigerians and I am sure everybody was carried away by his anti-corruption toga, but I am sure that in as much as some of us believe that corruption should be fought, we also know that we are supposed to put in place policies that will develop the economy that would make Nigerians make money for themselves and make everybody happy in the system.

There is this belief by Nigerians that the 2.1 billion US Dollars was meant for the purchase of arms.

What he is trying to do is to paint PDP in bad light, to think that all the money that came into the office of the National Security Adviser was given to only PDP people.

No. I can guess, this is about trust, that perhaps former President Goodluck Jonathan had implicit trust in Dasuki and felt that some of the money he needed to run his campaign could be channelled through the office of the NSA.

What is really painful is that he is painting a picture that is not real, he is painting a picture that money meant for arms was being diverted into private pockets or into PDP stalwarts’ pockets.

Dasuki has been accused of supervising the stealing of $2.1 billion in funds which were meant for the procurement of arms for Nigeria’s military.

The former NSA has however said that Jonathan was aware of the transactions, a claim which the former president has denied.