Arms Deal: Buhari Ready To Give GEJ Audience

Femi Adesina, the special adviser to president
Muhammadu Buhari has revealed that the
president is willing to grant ex-president
Goodluck Jonathan audience, should he sought
to make clarifications in view of the $2.1billion
arms deal scandal which is under
investigation.
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Adesina made the disclosure in an interview
with The Punch on Saturday, January 16.
According to him, President Buhari believes in
civility, and at such he would give former
president Jonathan listening ears.
President Buhari will grant ex-president
Goodluck Jonathan audience, should he sought
to make clarifications in view of the $2.1billion
arms deal scandal which is under
investigation.
He said: “A former President should always
have access to a sitting one. It would be
uncouth and indecent to shut out a former
occupant of such lofty office. If some people
did it to their predecessors in the past, it is not
this President who believes in decency and
civility.
“Yes, President Buhari will always grant
audience to former President Jonathan, if there
is any request for such. A rebuff does not
come into the picture at all.”
Also speaking with media outfit, a top
government official on the condition of
anonymity said that the Jonathan had tried to
reach out to the National Security Adviser,
Babagana Mongunu.
The source, however, said he did not know if
Jonathan had succeeded in establishing a
contact.
“I know that the former President has been
trying to reach the NSA. Whether he has
succeeded, I do not know. You can ask the
NSA himself,” he said.
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Buhari had on Friday, January 15, directed the
EFCC to carry out further investigation into the
alleged misconduct established against some
retired and serving officers of the Nigerian Air
Force and Nigerian Army.
According to the Senior Special Assistant to the
President on Media and Publicity, Mallam
Garba Shehu, the directive from President
Buhari was based on the recommendation of
the committee established to audit the
procurement of arms and equipment in the
Armed Forces and Defence sector from 2007 to
2015.
Those to be probed include: Air Chief Marshal
AS Badeh (Rtd), Air Marshal MD Umar (Rtd), Air
Marshal AN Amosu (Rtd), Maj-Gen. ER Chioba
(Rtd), AVM IA Balogun (Rtd), AVM AG Tsakr
(Rtd), AVM AG Idowu (Rtd), AVM AM
Mamu, AVM OT Oguntoyinbo and AVM T
Omenyi.
Others are AVM JB Adigun, AVM RA
Ojuawo, AVM JA Kayode-Beckley, Air Cdre SA
Yushau (Rtd), Air Cdre AO Ogunjobi, Air Cdre
GMD Gwani, Air Cdre SO Makinde, Air Cdre AY
Lassa, Col N Ashinze, Lt Col. MS Dasuki (Rtd)
In its first interim report, the Committee on
Audit of Defence Equipment established that
the sum N643bn and $2.1bn interventions were
received for procurements by DHQ and the
services between 2007 and 2015.
The audit report was said to have detailed the
huge fraud in the procurement of arms which
sparked President Muhammadu Buhari’s order
to the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) to investigate the role
played by several retired and serving officers
as well as civilian contractors.
The report showed that the audit committee
started work at the end of August 2015, and
looked at the procurement of weapons and
equipment for the period from 2007 to 2015.