Former President, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, has said it is untrue that his former National Security Adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki, stole $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, 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 he 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.”
