$2.1b Arms Deal: TUC wants Jonathan investigated

Trade Union Congress (TUC) has said former President Goodluck Jonathan could be invited to explain how the controversial $2.1 billion arms money was spent.

The position of the Congress is hinged on the recent statement credited to the ex-president that former National Security Adviser (NSA) Sambo Dasuki could not have misappropriated the money.

Jonathan expressed his position when he responded to questions after his lecture on Youth Entrepreneurship at the famous Oxford Union in the United Kingdom.

He said: “They said the National Security Adviser (Sambo Dasuki) stole $2.1 billion. I don’t believe somebody can just steal $2.1 billion.

“We bought aircraft, we bought lots of weapons for the army’’ and wondered why Nigeria government was saying that the money was missing.

“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.

He said there were so many things involved and we have to follow up these matters to conclusion before we know the facts.

“I don’t want to be seen as a former president challenging what the sitting government is doing. So I have decided to keep quiet for the court to look into them.”

The Congress union said on Wednesday that the former president was economical with the truth.

The Acting Secretary General of TUC, Mr. Simeso Amachree, said: “From information at our disposal, especially from the media, the former president is being economical with words.

He said the matter should be thoroughly investigated and everybody involved be invited for questioning to recover the money and nobody should be spared.

“We are keeping watch on the development and we are insisting that every kobo should be recovered.

“If the need arises, the former president should be invited to explain how the money was spent.’’

“The money does not belong to him. It belongs to the nation and now that the country is in recession, the money would do a lot of good.’’

He said Jonathans should be invited to explain what happened to the money since it was under his watch that the money either got missing or was diverted.

The Congress advised President Muhammadu Buhari should clear discrepancies in hand-over notes he received from Jonathan.

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