OVERHEARD...

$9.3m Arms Deal: Gusau, Dasuki Left in the Dark

The Presidency has yet to convince the nation that the ferrying of $9.3m (N1.5billion) cash for purchase of arms in South Africa last month was a legal affair. In the transaction involving “movement of cash for strategic purchase of security equipment by intelligence service”, Nigeria’s defence minister and ex-super spy Gen. Aliyu Gusau was not informed, nor was the national security adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd).

“The FBI, KGB, MOSSAD, and others do it,” the Presidency’s defenders have said. But what legal transaction involving purchase of arms would exclude the defence minister and the NSA?

The money, which has been seized by South African authorities, was ostensibly stolen from Nigeria’s oil resources for purchase of arms to be used in fighting the 2015 elections in the Niger Delta, especially in Rivers State whose governor has joined the opposition APC.

Two Nigerians and an Israeli were found with the cash flown in a private jet owned by Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, who is also president of the Christian Association of Nigeria. Because all the Nigerians involved come from the Niger Delta just like the Nigeria president, while security chiefs that ought to know about such a deal were left in the dark, many have suspected an ulterior motive.

sambo_dasuki

Most Popular

To Top