How President dropped ministerial nominee for accepting $5M from Dasuki

monjola sotubo

January 7, 2016 11:47 AM

Isa was supposed to have been nominated as the Kano State nominee but Buhari picked former Chief of Army Staff, Abdulrahman Dambazzau instead.

According to reports, President Muhammadu Buhari was forced to drop his political associate, Lawal Jafaru Isa as a ministerial nominee after discovering that the latter had accepted $5 million from former National Security Adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki.

Isa was supposed to have been nominated as the Kano State nominee but Buhari picked former Chief of Army Staff, Abdulrahman Dambazzau instead, The Cable reports.

“Buhari initially wanted Isa, but he was disappointed when he got this report on him,” a source in the Presidency said.

“Indeed, Buhari delayed naming his cabinet partly because it turned out that many of the people he initially wanted to pick did not pass the integrity test,” the source added.

Isa has been arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in connection with investigations into the $2.1 billion arms deal fraud which Dasuki allegedly spearheaded.

The former NSA reportedly gave the money to Isa in order to secure his support in the 2015 general elections.

Dasuki is at the center of the massive money laundering investigation and is alleged to have supervised the looting of the funds which were meant for the procurement of arms for Nigeria's military.

He was arrested by the Department of State Services (DSS) on December 1, 2015 and handed over to the EFCC the day after.

undefined

The former NSA is reported to have implicated several prominent persons in the deal including former governors, ex-ministers and members of the PDP.

undefined

Dasuki’s lawyer however denied the report that his client had become an informant while the former NSA said that ex-President, Goodluck Jonathan was aware of the transactions he had made.

undefined

Jonathan has however denied authorizing the release of the stated funds despite the former NSA’s claim that he got the necessary presidential approval for the transactions.

Dasuki was released on bail from Kuje Prison in December 2015 but was soon re-arrested by the DSS.

---------------------------------------------

Watch video on Dasuki's looting spree below:

monjola sotubo

Enhance Your Pulse News Experience!

Get rewards worth up to $20 when selected to participate in our exclusive focus group. Your input will help us to make informed decisions that align with your needs and preferences.

I've got feedback!