Former president Goodluck Jonathan has said he won’t be speaking on the current $2.1bn arms scam now because the matter is in court. Speaking at Geneva Press Club on Security, and Development in Africa, the former President said he would not like to comment on the arms probe matter now because his comment could affect witnesses and the judicial proceeding that had been initiated by the current administration.
He said: “I would not like to comment now because the matter is in court. I cannot comment. Definitely, I will speak. My Comment now may affect witnesses and the judicial process.
“When I was President, I tried to build institutions like the Judiciary and separation of power and the electoral bodies. I should not be the one undermining the process.” Continue...
The former President fielded questions on a host of issues such as the Chibok Girls, Boko Haram the economy and corruption and also spoke on why he did not challenge his electoral defeat in court.
Pressed to comment on the huge amounts of money allegedly embezzled by some members of his administration, the former President said: “I have an idea about some of the corruption cases you are talking about. The amount being mentioned in some cases are so huge, sometimes people think I was Nigeria’s President since independence. Sometimes, people just bandy figures. I remember somebody said we lost $49 billion in 18 months.
‘’The same man who made the allegation reduced the figure to 12 billion. I got forensic experts to probe the books of NNPC to ascertain the veracity of the allegation. I even remember asking the German Chancelor who said if that amount of money was missing in her country, it would be a big issue.
‘’The truth of the matter is that if we lose such amount of money within 18 months as the allegation said, the country will collapse.’
