A former National Security Adviser (NSA), Mr. Sambo Dasuki, has
disclosed why he did not consider absconding in spite of the
pressure of him to do so after he was implicated in a $2.1 billion
arms procurement deals.
He said he had to rebuff the pressure because he did not want to
be a fugitive again.
He also denied being one of the military officers who arrested
President Muhammadu Buhari in August 1985 when Buhari was removed
as military head of state.
Dasuki made the disclosure in a book, An encounter with the
Spymaster, written by Mallam Yushau Shuaib, the coordinator of
PRNigeria, a military covert counter-insurgency media outfit.
The ex-NSA said: “I can never be a fugitive after past Abacha’s
attempt on my life in the 1990s. I will remain in Nigeria and face
any consequences.”
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had in
January this year re-arraigned Dasuki and five others before the
Federal Capital Territory High Court, Maitama.
The other accused persons are a former governor of Sokoto State,
Attahiru Bafarawa, and his son, Sagir; a former Director of Finance
and Administration in the Office of the NSA, Shuaibu Salisu; a
former Minister of State for Finance, Bashir Yuguda as well as
Sagir’s firm, Dalhatu Investment.
They were re-arraigned before Justice Baba Yusuf on 22 counts
involving alleged diversion of N13 billion meant for purchase of
arms.
They were accused of criminal breach of trust, receiving stolen
property and misappropriation of funds.
The trial of Dasuki and others has been on and off in the last
two years.
Giving fresh insight into why the 2015 general election was
postponed, the book stated: “It should be stated here that during
the critical period of the war on terror, the Western powers
deliberately refused to sell the required weapons and armaments to
Nigeria to prosecute the war on flimsy excuses of human rights
abuses.
“When they embargoed the supply, the then government had to
resort to Eastern Block for required arms and ammunition.
“Though the arrival of the equipment was late, which
necessitated the postponement of the 2015 election, the subsequent
operations were successful.”
In the book, Dasuki recalled how his path had crossed with the
President in the military and politics.
The ex-NSA explained how Buhari was informed about the 1983 Coup
d’état which led to the sack of the democratically elected
President, Alhaji Shehu Shagari.
He said he and two young military officers (still alive)
“travelled to Jos to brief Maj-Gen. Buhari, who was then the GOC of
the 3rd Armoured Division, on the furtherance of the planning of
1983 coup which made Buhari the major beneficiary of the ouster of
the elected President Shehu Shagari.”
Asked why he participated in the coup d’état against Buhari in
1985, less than two years after the coup that brough him in, Dasuki
said: “Gen. Buhari should know whom he should blame.”
But he denied being among the officers that arrested Buhari as a
military Head of State in the August 1985 putsch.
He added: “I always respect and dignify my seniors and those in
positions of authority, whether in service or after.
“Though a young officer, I was reluctant to be among those that
arrested him (Buhari). And I was not. I only met him afterwards at
Bonny Camp with Lawal Rafindadi.
“There is no way I could have maltreated him as being alleged in
some quarters. I am glad most of the actors are still alive.”
The detained former NSA dismissed having grudges with Buhari
under any guise.
The book said: “Dasuki narrated how he supported the campaign
aspiration of Muhammadu Buhari for presidential elections in 2003,
2007 and 2011.
“He mentioned the names of individuals who were also privy to
his active involvement including respected Northern elements like
Adamu Adamu (Minister of Education); Bashir Kurfi; Wada Maida
(Buhari’s former Chief Press Secretary), Sule Hamman and Kabir
Yusuf, among others.
“He disclosed how he pleaded with Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu in the
presence of Chief Bisi Akande to accept Muhammadu Buhari as the
joint presidential candidate of the defunct Action Congress of
Nigeria (ACN) and former Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in
2011.
“Dasuki said he knelt down begging ‘Baba Bisi Akande’, who was
then the chairman of CAN that, “Gen. Buhari is a man to be
trusted.”
He said he was prematurely retired from the Army because “he and
some others confronted a former Head of State, the late Gen. Sani
Abacha, over the June 12, 1993 presidential election which was won
by the late Chief Moshood Kashimawo Abiola (MKO).”
He said the persecution that followed his retirement forced him
into exile where he “teamed up with opposition elements struggling
for the return of democracy in Nigeria.”
A former National Security Adviser (NSA), Mr. Sambo Dasuki, has
disclosed why he did not consider absconding in spite of the
pressure of him to do so after he was implicated in a $2.1 billion
arms procurement deals.
He said he had to rebuff the pressure because he did not want to
be a fugitive again.
He also denied being one of the military officers who arrested
President Muhammadu Buhari in August 1985 when Buhari was removed
as military head of state.
Dasuki made the disclosure in a book, An encounter with the
Spymaster, written by Mallam Yushau Shuaib, the coordinator of
PRNigeria, a military covert counter-insurgency media outfit.
The ex-NSA said: “I can never be a fugitive after past Abacha’s
attempt on my life in the 1990s. I will remain in Nigeria and face
any consequences.”
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had in
January this year re-arraigned Dasuki and five others before the
Federal Capital Territory High Court, Maitama.
The other accused persons are a former governor of Sokoto State,
Attahiru Bafarawa, and his son, Sagir; a former Director of Finance
and Administration in the Office of the NSA, Shuaibu Salisu; a
former Minister of State for Finance, Bashir Yuguda as well as
Sagir’s firm, Dalhatu Investment.
They were re-arraigned before Justice Baba Yusuf on 22 counts
involving alleged diversion of N13 billion meant for purchase of
arms.
They were accused of criminal breach of trust, receiving stolen
property and misappropriation of funds.
The trial of Dasuki and others has been on and off in the last
two years.
Giving fresh insight into why the 2015 general election was
postponed, the book stated: “It should be stated here that during
the critical period of the war on terror, the Western powers
deliberately refused to sell the required weapons and armaments to
Nigeria to prosecute the war on flimsy excuses of human rights
abuses.
“When they embargoed the supply, the then government had to
resort to Eastern Block for required arms and ammunition.
“Though the arrival of the equipment was late, which
necessitated the postponement of the 2015 election, the subsequent
operations were successful.”
In the book, Dasuki recalled how his path had crossed with the
President in the military and politics.
The ex-NSA explained how Buhari was informed about the 1983 Coup
d’état which led to the sack of the democratically elected
President, Alhaji Shehu Shagari.
He said he and two young military officers (still alive)
“travelled to Jos to brief Maj-Gen. Buhari, who was then the GOC of
the 3rd Armoured Division, on the furtherance of the planning of
1983 coup which made Buhari the major beneficiary of the ouster of
the elected President Shehu Shagari.”
Asked why he participated in the coup d’état against Buhari in
1985, less than two years after the coup that brough him in, Dasuki
said: “Gen. Buhari should know whom he should blame.”
But he denied being among the officers that arrested Buhari as a
military Head of State in the August 1985 putsch.
He added: “I always respect and dignify my seniors and those in
positions of authority, whether in service or after.
“Though a young officer, I was reluctant to be among those that
arrested him (Buhari). And I was not. I only met him afterwards at
Bonny Camp with Lawal Rafindadi.
“There is no way I could have maltreated him as being alleged in
some quarters. I am glad most of the actors are still alive.”
The detained former NSA dismissed having grudges with Buhari
under any guise.
The book said: “Dasuki narrated how he supported the campaign
aspiration of Muhammadu Buhari for presidential elections in 2003,
2007 and 2011.
“He mentioned the names of individuals who were also privy to
his active involvement including respected Northern elements like
Adamu Adamu (Minister of Education); Bashir Kurfi; Wada Maida
(Buhari’s former Chief Press Secretary), Sule Hamman and Kabir
Yusuf, among others.
“He disclosed how he pleaded with Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu in the
presence of Chief Bisi Akande to accept Muhammadu Buhari as the
joint presidential candidate of the defunct Action Congress of
Nigeria (ACN) and former Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in
2011.
“Dasuki said he knelt down begging ‘Baba Bisi Akande’, who was
then the chairman of CAN that, “Gen. Buhari is a man to be
trusted.”
He said he was prematurely retired from the Army because “he and
some others confronted a former Head of State, the late Gen. Sani
Abacha, over the June 12, 1993 presidential election which was won
by the late Chief Moshood Kashimawo Abiola (MKO).”
He said the persecution that followed his retirement forced him
into exile where he “teamed up with opposition elements struggling
for the return of democracy in Nigeria.”
Read more https://nairalaw.com/arms-deals-trial-ill-face-the-consequences-says-dasuki/