ABUJA (Sundiata Post) – The immediate past National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd) has said allegation by the Presidency of his indictment by Presidential Committee on Weapons Purchase bordering on extra-budgetary interventions, and non-execution of contracts for the purchase of four Alpha Jets, as mere propaganda to tarnish his image.
He has also assured that he has nothing incriminating to hide and vowed to defend himself before a duly constituted court of law.
Dasuki in a statement he signed on Wednesday in his besieged Abuja home, defended his tenure as the nation’s NSA, saying, “I acted in the interest of the nation and with utmost fear of God. I did not use the office for any self-serving agenda.
“I occupied the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) at a difficult moment in Nigerian history when terrorism was at its peak and I am leaving posterity to judge me accordingly”.
The ex-NSA noted that the Presidency, with an aim “to draw sympathy, quoted some absurd findings including extra-budgetary interventions; award of fictitious contracts; 53 failed contracts; payment for jobs without contractual agreements; non-execution of contracts for the purchase of four Alpha jets, bombs and ammunition”.[pro_ad_display_adzone id=”70560″]
He said that “undiscerning Nigerians, may tend to assume that the allegations were true and pronounce” him guilty as charged.
According to Dasuki who has been under forced house arrest by the Department of Security Service (DSS), the statement issued by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, whom he said, “should know better as a former President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors and a witness to history”, was nothing sort of propaganda to cast aspersions on his person.
To this end, Dasuki insisted that he was never invited by the Air Vice Marshal (AVM) John Ode (rtd)-led panel for clarifications before the committee arrived at its conclusions.
“To set the records straight, Nigerians should appreciate that the AVM Jon Ode-led panel did not invite the ex-NSA under any guise before arriving at its ambiguous findings. At least, fairness demands that the panel ought to hear from Dasuki instead of its recourse to hasty conclusions. If the panel had been more patient and painstaking, it would have been availed of all relevant documents on some of the jaundiced findings.
“As if acting a script, the Presidency alleged that the panel accused Dasuki of awarding fictitious contracts between March 2012 and March 2015. Contrary to this claim, Dasuki was not the NSA in March 2012 and he could not have awarded any contract in whatever name. The ex-NSA was appointed by ex-President Goodluck Jonathan on June 22, 2012,” he clarified
Dasuki insisted that all contracts and accruing payments were with the approval of the President Jonathan.
“Once the ex-President approved, the former NSA paid. So, there was due process for every purchase in line with regulations guiding arms procurement for the Armed Forces,” he stressed.
The former NSA noted that all the services generated the types of equipment needed, sourced for suppliers most times and after consideration by the ONSA, the President will approve application for payment; adding “for sensitive sectors (military/security), there was no room for awarding fictitious contracts”.
To this end, Dasuki asserted that the conclusions of the panel were presumptive, baseless and lacked diligence.
He was emphatic that “there were no fictitious contracts; contract sums were not diverted and the relevant services in writing acknowledged delivery of equipment, saying, “for all procurements, the Nigerian Army, the Air Force and the Nigerian Navy have their contractors”.
While awaiting judicial process on these allegations, he said, “it is proper to make some references to show that the Presidency was just desperate to hang some former public and military officers who served this nation at the risk of their lives.”
The ex-NSA said it was laughable for the presidential probe panel to assume that four Alpha jets and 12 helicopters were undelivered.
He gave further details in a memo to the ONSA, referenced NAF/905/D/CAS of November 28, 2014, where he said that the immediate past Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Chief Marshal Adesola Amosu (rtd) acknowledged the receipt of the four Alpha jets attack aircraft and the helicopters.
He also noted that on October 21, 2014, Amosu confirmed the receipt of F-7 N1 aircraft combination of 250kg bombs and accessories at $2,894,000 with the cost of freight at $1,200,000. The same Air Force confirmed getting 2xTri Shield 36DG Tactical radars
Dasuki said that in another letter of December 1, 2014 signed by L.S. Alao (on behalf of the Chief of Air Staff), the Air Force said it received five containerised fuel storage and dispensing units with equipment.
He further stated: “The Nigerian Army wrote the ONSA to acknowledge the delivery of 14 armoured tanks. In a December 13, 2014 memo, the Brigade of Guards thanked ONSA for releasing N30m for RCA, Operation allowance for Troops on Op Urban Sweep II for third and fourth quarters of 2014. This is apart from the installation of CCT Cameras at the Brigade Headquarters, two backscatter bomb detection vans and other equipment.
“On November 26, 2014, the immediate past Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh sought for approval of the award of one pair of uniform(in the interim) for the Armed Forces at N165, 375 to El-Jahab Mubarak Nigeria and N330,750,000 for two pairs.
“These are some of the acknowledgment letters submitted to me by the end-users(the services). It is not for me to go and find out whether the equipment were delivered or not. I am not the one keeping the inventories.”
To show that he has nothing to hide, Dasuki said he submitted a comprehensive list of all requests for procurement by the services, the items bought and those equipment being awaited, to President Muhammadu Buhari long before he left office.
“If there were issues, I should have been questioned. I was just the clearing house, I did not award contracts to my company or proxies. There was no contract awarded or equipment bought without approval from the then President and Commander-In-Chief. I am not a thief or treasury looter as being portrayed.
“In order not to endanger the nation’s security, there are many salient issues and contracts which I cannot put in public domain. I am ready for trial on all these allegations in order to prove to Nigerians that I did nothing untoward in office. We will certainly meet in court.
“I have a lot to tell Nigerians but in the interim, they should not believe some of the allegations as the gospel truth. The good thing is that some of the key actors in the present administration were part of the past process being viciously challenged,” he said.
Meanwhile, the DSS has deployed more personnel at the No. 13 John Kadiya Street, Asokoro home of the former NSA, following the Presidential order for his arrest.
Sundiata Post findings on Wednesday revealed that more security personnel were stationed in front to the building while more others were stationed from the junction to the Akwa Ibom Governor’s Lodge.
Dasuki has been under DSS siege since he obtained the Federal High Court (FHC) order and permission for medical treatment abroad.
