President Muhammadu Buhari was
misled to approve $496 million for the procurement of 12 Super Tucano aircraft
from the US without the backing of the national assembly.
The money was said to have been
withdrawn from the excess crude account (ECA).
In August, the US government sold
the aircraft to Nigeria to enable it combat the Boko Haram insurgency in the
north-east.
An embargo had been placed on
Nigeria owing to allegations of gross human right abuses against the military.
In a letter to the leadership of
the national assembly dated April 13, 2018, the president explained that the
United States had given Nigeria a deadline for payment, hence the reason he
approved the money without consulting the legislators.
Buhari also sought the inclusion
of the procurement of the aircraft into the 2018 budget which the national
assembly is still working on.
The source said the lawmakers,
particularly those in house of representatives, are not happy with the
development, adding that the president cut short his UK trip in order to
address the issue.
In the statement issued to
announce Buhari’s trip, the date of his return was not disclosed.
“The approval for $496 million
for Tucano aircraft is an impeachable offence. What us happening right now is
that some people in the executive set Buhari up,” the source said.
“They made him send a letter to
the national assembly and the letter is saying that money has already been
disbursed without seeking approval which is an impeachable offence.
“This is part of the reason why
the president came back into the country. He is thinking of calling the
leadership of the national assembly for a meeting.
“These people gave the president
wrong information. Right the house of representatives have a copy of the letter
that the money had already been disbursed but then it has not been
appropriated. A lot of members of the house are not happy.”
Efforts to get a reaction from
Garba Shehu, spokesman of the president, were not successful as calls to his
phone did not go through and a text message was not replied.
Mansur Dan-Ali, minister of
defence, had said Buhari gave the approval for the money to be released but Ita
Enang, senior special assistant to the president on national assembly matters,
later contradicted Dan Ali.
The presidential aide said Buhari
had not approved the release of the money from the excess crude account as
claimed by the minister, adding that the approval given to the federal
government by the national economic council was undergoing the “normal
legislative process” before the national assembly.
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