Ayorinde Oluokun/Abuja
Goodluck Jonathan, former President of Nigeria
Details of the financial heist committed under former President Goodluck Jonathan is gradually coming to the open as the probe instituted in the rape of financial resources of Nigeria under his administration by his successor, President Muhammadu Buhari gathers steam.
Documents made available to journalists on Saturday by sources at the presidential villa indicated that one of the scandalous spending now engaging the attention of investigators was the purchase of three mobile stages, costing $6.9 million.
Investigations into the deal implicated Nigeria’s former President, Jonathan, his Chief Security Officer, Gordon Obuah and former Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke.
The funds, according to sources, was withdrawn from one of the numerous accounts of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC to buy three 40-feet mobile stages for use by the former President during public events.
But preliminary investigations was said to have revealed that the costs of the stages were not just grossly overstated but that the funds were diverted into the private account of a company owned by Obuah.
Investigators explained that not even big musicians in advanced countries would pay as much as over $2m per stage while process of procurement also did not follow due process as neither the Auditor-General nor the Accountant-General were involved in the entire process.
Documents made available by presidential sources indicated that the suspicious transaction began with a memo from Obuah to Jonathan on October 17, 2011, asking for the purchase of three mobile stages.
Gordon Obua: wired $69 million to his company account
Obuah had in the memo recalled his earlier discussion with the former President on the security implication of his public appearances and his subsequent directive on the need to procure a secured presidential platform.
The investigators discovered that the former President approved the request on the same day, indicating that he did not …Read More
Source:: PM Newspaper
