Confess your sins to President Buhari, Sagay tells Jonathan

The Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee on Corruption, Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), has advised former President Goodluck Jonathan to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari and confess all he knows about the $2bn arms scandal.

Sagay told newsmen during an interview that if Jonathan could provide adequate information, he would be accorded the adequate respect by virtue of being a former Head of State.

A former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki; a former Chairman of Daar Communications, Chief Raymond Dokpesi; and several others have been charged for their roles in the arms scandal.

When asked if Jonathan could be arrested despite his soaring popularity in the international community for conceding defeat in the March 28 presidential election and congratulating Buhari, Sagay said the issue was a ‘sensitive’ one.

He, however, argued that conceding defeat to Buhari did not make Jonathan a hero. The senior advocate said one good action could not correct several evil actions.

He said, “To start with, the great reputation he (Jonathan) seems to have is the fact that he admitted defeat. There are thousands of actions that are negative actions so I don’t think that we should overplay it.

“But on the issue of the former President going to prison, I agree that it is a bit touchy politically but the case of Jonathan is particularly bad if you see the manner with which the country’s resources and government coffers have been turned into a bazaar parlour where everyone goes to collect his own share. Just like Warri boys would ask, ‘You don obtain your own?’

“Everyone was going to ‘obtain’ under Jonathan. It was just bizarre but I understand that dealing with a former Head of State is always a sensitive issue but I would say he should have a private chat with President Muhammadu Buhari and say all that he knows and if there is anything he has to release, then he should release it and be allowed to go quietly into retirement.”

Also reacting to the N120m collected by some members of the Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria from Dasuki which is believed to be part of the diverted $2bn, Sagay said investigations would determine if the newspapers were culpable or not.

He said the Chairman of NPAN, Mr. Nduka Obaigbena, who confessed to collecting over N500m from Dasuki, might not be charged if the process through which he collected the money was transparent.