There was some furor over the hike of fuel price to over N200 a litre, on Friday. That was a huge issue of course, but not quite as surprising as the revelation that the $1 billion money approved for arm purchase by Buhari back in 2018, could not be accounted for.
Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno (rtd), who is Buhari's National Security Adviser, had said in an interview with BBC Hausa that funds earmarked for the procurement of arms under the immediate-past service chiefs could not be accounted for.
He said, "The President approved the release of $1 billion for the purchase of weapons to fight Boko Haram and other security challenges. So far, I have seen nothing on ground and the new service chiefs also said they have not seen new weapons. May be they are still underway, but so far nothing on ground."
“No one knows what happened to the money but by God’s grace, the president will INVESTIGATE to find out whether the money was spent and where the arms went,” he added.
This is a huge deal especially when we weren't allowed to breathe over same issue involving former NSA Sambo Dasuki, for which the former President's adviser, ended up spending some years in detention.
At the time, we were made to believe that #DasukiGate was the greatest corruption scandal in the history of the country, with several top names being linked with the scandal, all of whom were accused of having a share of the money.
But, who would have thought, that under the same government of integrity, who ensured that Dasuki is locked up for his alleged sins, and who hates corruption with a passion, we'd be here talking about another $1 billion arm scandal?
But of course, we all know the righteous government of Buhari would deny such claims. In fact, the President's top megaphone, Malam Garba Shehu, came out to tell we the 'gullible' Nigerians, that we are no longer under the Jonathan administration, as such this kind of scandal cannot happen under Buhari's watch.
He said, “I want to assure you that nothing of that money is missing.
“The reference by it in the interview of the BBC Hausa Service by the National Security Adviser has been misconstrued and mistranslated.
“At no point did the NSA say that money has been misappropriated and that no arms is seen. They have not been delivered, that is correct; these are things you don’t get off the shelves."
He then added, “People are just been political, they want to draw moral equivalent between the PDP and the APC administrations – we are not the same, things like this cannot happen under a Buhari administrations.”
You read it right. Shehu has given us all the assurances we needed, he said, "Things like this cannot happen under a Buhari administrations.” The arms are yet to be delivered since the money was approved three years ago!
The Buhari administration has a lot to be afraid of especially when the said money was approved without some boxes properly ticked at the time. Would it have even mattered?
There were disquiet in the National Assembly over the approval of the fund, yet, nothing was done about it. That's because the whole house is in Buhari's pocket. They are not called 'rubber stamp' for nothing.
Besides, Monguno said it clearly, “No one knows what happened to the money but by God’s grace, the president will INVESTIGATE to find out whether the money was spent and where the arms went.”
If this comes from the NSA's mouth, then it's nothing but the truth. The fact that the Presidency is jittery and doing its best to cover up its corruption shows clearly, they have something to hide.
Just like the Dasuki scandal was linked to a lot of big names, you can be sure that unless this whole thing is swept under the rug, Buratai won't be going down alone. He'd drag with him, the President, and the whole national assembly who have once again proved why they need to be scrapped.