Former President Goodluck Jonathan has expressed misgivings over the $2.1 billion arms fraud allegation against former National Security Adviser, NSA, Sambo Dasuki.
Jonathan made his opinion known during a presentation at the Oxford Union in the United Kingdom on Monday.
When questioned about the allegations of corruption during his administration, Jonathan said: “They said the national security adviser stole $2.2 billion. I don’t believe somebody can just steal $2.2 billion.
“We bought warships, we bought aircraft, we bought lots of weapons for the army and so on and so forth, and you are still saying $2.2 billion (was stolen)? So where did we get the money to buy all those things?” he asked.
The ex-president acknowledged that there were cases of corruption during his tenure as president, but added that most of the cases were being exaggerated.
“Yes, there were some issues; yes, there are still corruption issues; but some of it were blown, I’d say exaggerated, and they give a very bad impression about our nation. You cannot say the national security adviser stole $2.2billion; It is not just possible,” he said.
“I don’t want to be seen as a former president challenging what the sitting government is doing so I have decided to keep quiet for the court to look into them. You will see that it has become a major topic whenever there is a change of government.
“I am not saying there is no corruption in Nigeria, there is corruption. If you look at corruption there is almost no country that is free, the degree varies, the perception varies.
Dasuki, who has been in detention for months, is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for corruption.
In the last one week, several former aides to ex-president Jonathan have been invited and detained by the anti-graft agency on allegations of corruption and misappropriation of funds.
The latest arrests took place on Monday night as former Presidential spokesman, Reuben Abati, as well as former FCT Minister, Bala Mohammed, were arrested by the EFCC.