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.”