I didn’t accuse Jonathan in person of corruption —Osinbajo

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has denied accusing former President Goodluck Jonathan of involvement in corruption.

Osinbajo said that his position remains that there was grand corruption under Jonathan’s administration.

He stated this in a statement where he published details of alleged grand corruption during the Jonathan era, the detail he said, was a mere tip of the iceberg.

The vice-president released the details in response to media office of the former president which claimed that Osinbajo made unsubstantiated allegations about grand corruption during the Jonathan government.

Reacting through his senior special assistant on media, Laolu Akande, Osinbajo denied having at anytime accuse Jonathan in person, but only said that grand corruption were committed during his presidency.

Part of the statement read, “We have read reports attributed to ‘a media office of former President Goodluck Jonathan’. It is clear from the foul language of the authors that the statement could not have come from the former President, but from the motley group of loud and rude characters whose brief seems to be to deny all and anything said against the former PDP government and to do so in the crassest possible language.

“The alleged spokespersons of the former President say that facts long in the public domain, some even being used to prosecute several corruption cases are lies and that those of us in government restating these well known facts are liars.

“They accuse Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, of lying against the former President or his government citing their involvement in the stealing of three billion dollars, while speaking recently at The Platform event on the 1st of May.

“Just for clarity, I quote the Vice President “Grand corruption remains the most enduring threat to our economy. Three Billion US dollars was stolen in what was called the strategic alliance contacts in 2013, three Nigerians were responsible, today three billion dollars is one trillion Naira and our budget is 7trillion! ….”

“Two issues emerge. First, no mention is made of the former President.

“Second, the story is not only true, it has been in the public domain for almost three years and it is the subject of criminal investigation and trials both here and in the UK.

“The spokespersons also say that the allegations of corruption against the PDP government are mere lies. For clarity, the facts are laid out as follows:

“As the Vice President said, $3 billion was stolen in the so- called NNPC Strategic Alliance Contracts. The three persons involved are Jide Omokore, Kola Aluko and the former Petroleum Resources Minister Diezani Alison- Maduekwe.

“The companies of both Jide Omokore and Kola Aluko lifted Nigerian crude oil and kept the proceeds. The total sums converted is in excess of three billion dollars including royalties, taxes and fees unpaid for the asset from which the crude was taken.

“The case is the subject of a trial in Nigeria, and criminal investigation in the US and UK, and the assets of all three individuals have been forfeited in Nigeria, the US and the UK.

“The criminal diversion and theft of sums in excess of $2.5 billion meant for purchase of arms to prosecute the war against Boko Haram: The first phase of the investigations revealed several sordid details, many of the assets of culprits have been seized from them and they are facing trial.

“In another illegal disbursement, 25th August 2014, N60 billion in cash in tranches of N40billion and N20 billion: The sum was not tied to any project or procurement and was then shared between two security agencies under the supervision of the then NSA.

“Most of these sums ended up in the hands of senior PDP members some of whom have returned parts of the loot. Some are standing trial for these offenses. These facts are in the public domain.

“There was yet another set of illegal fund withdrawals under one week between January 8 and 16, 2015, where the sum of N1.5 billion was released in three tranches of N300 million, N400 million and N800 million respectively. This money was released from the MEA Research Library Account.

“Another document showed that N10 billion was released to the Office of the National Security Adviser by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on September 15, 2014. The money was released in tranches of foreign exchange of $47 million, $5 million, 4 million Euros and 1.6 million Euros.

“A letter from the Office of the NSA in November 2014 further showed that the monies were released as ‘funds for special services’. This particular release of N10 billion was sourced in November 2014 from a N40 billion CBN released funds meant for Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR. Investigators showed that this money was released for the PDP Presidential Primaries.

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“Lamido Sanusi, then CBN governor was sacked for speaking up about the over $20 billion missing from oil proceeds.

“These cases of grand corruption and open looting of public resources pauperized Nigeria and left us with little or no savings in the years when oil was selling at 100 to 114 dollars a barrel and we were producing 2.1 million barrels a day. When in 2015 oil prices went even as low as between 28 and 35 dollars a barrel and oil production fell to less than one million barrels a day we had no buffer, no savings, to tide us through.”

He added, “Recently, the Minister Coordinating the economy in that administration has written a revealing book : Fighting Corruption is Dangerous: The Story Behind the Headlines. Who knows, perhaps her stories too are all lies!”

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