Confess Your Sins to Buhari Over $2.1bn Arms Deal - Itse Sagay Fires at Goodluck Jonathan

Posted by Thandiubani on Tue 22nd Dec, 2015 - tori.ng

It is not over yet for Goodluck Jonathan in the ongoing arms deal controversy as signs of his implication and involvement becomes clearer by the day. Prof. Itse Sagay has challenged him to come clear or face the music.

Former President, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and his Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

Former President of Nigeria, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has come under fire from the Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee on Corruption, Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), as he advised him to confess all he knows about the $2.1 billion arms scandal, Punch reports.

Sagay made the disclosure during an interview and insisted this would give Jonathan the adequate respect by virtue of being a former Head of State.

Explaining more when asked if Jonathan could be arrested despite his soaring popularity in the international community for conceding defeat in the March 28 presidential election and congratulating Buhari, Sagay said the issue was a ‘sensitive’ one.

He said, “To start with, the great reputation he (Jonathan) seems to have is the fact that he admitted defeat. There are thousands of actions that are negative actions so I don’t think that we should overplay it.

“But on the issue of the former President going to prison, I agree that it is a bit touchy politically but the case of Jonathan is particularly bad if you see the manner with which the country’s resources and government coffers have been turned into a bazaar parlour where everyone goes to collect his own share. Just like Warri boys would ask, ‘You don obtain your own?’

“Everyone was going to ‘obtain’ under Jonathan. It was just bizarre but I understand that dealing with a former Head of State is always a sensitive issue but I would say he should have a private chat with President Muhammadu Buhari and say all that he knows and if there is anything he has to release, then he should release it and be allowed to go quietly into retirement.”

Sagay also reacted to the N120 million collected by some members of the Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria from Dasuki which is believed to be part of the diverted $2.1 billion, saying investigations would determine if the newspapers were culpable or not.

He said the Chairman of NPAN, Mr. Nduka Obaigbena, who confessed to collecting over N500 million from Dasuki, might not be charged if the process through which he collected the money was transparent.

Sagay said, “I think the issue of knowledge and motive are very important. In other words, if Nduka Obaigbena was informed that the Federal Government had decided to compensate him for the losses suffered by his company and this was conveyed in writing and the cheque was given to him from the NSA, it would not be out of place because the NSA, after all, is a security adviser and what happened to Obaigbena’s company was a security adversity so I can understand that but if it was an underground thing, without any formality, explanation or record, that is when it will arouse suspicion and make one to assume that it was an underhand deal done to obtain Federal Government money without any entitlement.”

On the issue of plea bargain, he said that under Buhari, people would be made to spend more time in jail rather than be given light sentences.

He said, “It is something that we have to look into but I have a feeling that with the new government and the arrival of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act which has plea bargaining positions that are tougher than the normal ones, I think we are going to see people spending longer periods in prison even with plea bargaining and it will be longer than six months.”