Former military head of state Lieutenant General
Abdulsalam Abubakar (rtd) and other members of the
National Peace Committee for the 2015 general
elections were rattled by the stubborn posture and utterance
of President Muhammadu Buhari during a meeting with him
earlier today. Mr. Abubakar had led members of the so-called
Peace Committee in yet another mission to plead with Mr.
Buhari not to probe the administration of former President
Goodluck Jonathan.
President Buhari meeting with National Peace Committee
on 2015
However, several participants at today’s meeting told
SaharaReporters that the president remained obstinate and
made no secret of his determination to proceed with the
probe.
SaharaReporters learnt that today’s meeting was a stepped
up version of previous failed attempts to sway Mr. Buhari from
his determination to probe acts of corruption by officials of
Mr. Jonathan’s administration. SaharaReporters had revealed
that former Commonwealth Secretary General Emeka Anyaoku
visited President Buhari to press the case for letting bygone be
bygone shortly before the latter’s departure for an official visit
to the US. Our sources had disclosed that Mr. Anyaoku had
undertaken his mission to the president at the behest of Mr.
Jonathan.
During Mr. Buhari’s US visit, American officials handed him
dossiers that detailed billion dollar thefts perpetrated by key
officials of the Jonathan administration. Members of Mr.
Buhari’s delegation during his US trip disclosed that the
extent of the looting left the Nigerian president angry, and
strengthened his determination to unearth the widespread
embezzlement of Nigeria’s funds.
Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, who was on the
presidential delegation at a meeting with US Attorney General
Loretta Lynch, later told Nigerians that US officials revealed
that one of Mr. Jonathan’s ministers, whom he did not name,
stole as much as $6 billion. Even though Mr. Oshiomhole did
not disclose the name of the concerned minister, checks by
SaharaReporters revealed that the rapacious former minister
is Diezani Alison-Madueke who held the portfolio of Petroleum
for most of Mr. Jonathan’s tenure. Ms. Alison-Madueke is
currently in London.
After Mr. Buhari’s return from the US, President Jonathan
stepped up maneuvers to talk him into discontinuing the
probe of his administration.
A source close to the former president told SaharaReporters
that Mr. Buhari’s pronouncements that his government would
probe his predecessor had contributed to a major health crisis
that beset former First Lady Patience Jonathan. “Madam
[Mrs. Jonathan] has been suffering from serious depression,”
according to the source. Ms. Alison-Madueke has also had a
share of ill health apparently triggered by being the focus of
global attention for symbolizing the pervasive corruption of the
past administration. A source close to her in the UK stated
that she collapsed in her posh apartment in London due to
“exhaustion” and had to be hospitalized for two days.
Last week, former President Jonathan reached out to former
military head of state, Abdulsalam Abubakar, and urged him to
arrange a one-on-one meeting with Mr. Buhari to discuss his
concerns. President Buhari agreed to a secret meeting with
the former president last Thursday in the dead of the night. A
source familiar with the meeting told SaharaReporters that
Mr. Jonathan appeared jittery at the meeting and was unable
to articulate the case against probing his government.
Instead, the former president reportedly asked mundane
questions about how Buhari was coping with governing the
country and offered to help in any way.
The meeting was over in less than 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, former President Olusegun Obasanjo was so
incensed on hearing about Mr. Buhari’s meeting with Mr.
Jonathan that he called at the Presidential Villa 24 hours later
to meet with Mr. Buhari behind closed doors.
A source at the Presidency revealed that Mr. Obasanjo, whose
record of corruption as president was equally monumental,
urged Mr. Buhari to send former President Jonathan to jail.
Another source stated that Mr. Obasanjo volunteered to use
his international contacts to help trace the funds stolen during
Mr. Jonathan’s administration, adding that much of the funds
were laundered through arms deals as well as shady oil sales
and swaps.
On learning of former President Obasanjo’s ominous mission
to Aso Rock, Mr. Jonathan reportedly contacted General
Abubakar (rtd) again, this time pleading with the retired
general to intercede with Mr. Buhari.
Today, Mr. Abubakar and fellow members of the National
Peace Committee first met with President Buhari in a closed-
door session before appearing before the media. A member of
the committee revealed that their team first told President
Buhari that they had come to discuss how to “wind up” and
to check if there was a new national assignment they could
undertake.
The source also revealed that, even though the committee did
not mention former President Jonathan by name during their
interaction with Mr. Buhari, the committee members cautioned
against leaving the impression that the government was
targeting “anybody.” They also appealed to Mr. Buhari to tarry
a little before deciding on probing anybody.
A source at the Presidency stated that Mr. Buhari was well
aware of the committee’s secret mission, hence his decision
to speak forthrightly in response. Among the committee’s
members is a controversial President of the Christian
Association of Nigeria (CAN), Ayo Oritsejafor, a loyalist of Mr.
Jonathan’s. His private jet was involved in an arms deal
scandal after South African authorities discovered, and
confiscated, $9.3 million in cash inside the aircraft. The
Jonathan administration then stated that the funds were
meant for the purchase of arms to prosecute the war against
Islamist insurgents, Boko Haram.
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Officials of the Buhari administration disclosed that the
Presidency had already identified and was investigating acts
of corruption involving former National Security Adviser,
Colonel Sambo Dasuki (rtd) and former Petroleum Minister,
Alison-Madueke. In addition, our sources said the new
administration was pursuing leads about huge corrupt deals
involving former First Lady, Patience Jonathan, former
Attorney general, Mohammaed Bello Adoke, the Amnesty
Office, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), and
the Federal Capital Territory. In one instance, more than $1
million dollars in cash was found at the residence of Gordon
Obuah, a former Chief Security Officer to Mr. Jonathan.
“We are also looking at properties purchased in Ghana, Dubai,
UK and US by various officials of the immediate past
administration,” one source disclosed.
He added that one of the biggest means of money laundering
was the reckless purchase of private jets by former cohorts of
Mr. Jonathan.
At the end of the meeting yesterday, President Buhari made it
clear to members of the committee that his government would
soon commence trial of Nigerian treasury looters.