Two
senior EFCC sources has revealed that principal secretary to former President
Goodluck Jonathan, was arrested over allegations that he diverted the sum of
$40 million ostensibly meant for the negotiated release of 219 Chibok girls
abducted by Boko Haram militants.
SaharaReporters
has exclusively reported that Hassan Tukur, who served as principal secretary
to former President Goodluck Jonathan, has been making shocking disclosures to
agents of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) since he was
arrested and detained last week.
Two
senior EFCC sources told a correspondent that Mr. Tukur was arrested over
allegations that he diverted the sum of $40 million ostensibly meant for the
negotiated release of 219 Chibok girls abducted by Boko Haram militants in
April 2014.
A
disclosed that Mr. Tukur has told investigators that he diverted the funds with
the approval and at the instance of the ex-president. Another source said Mr.
Tukur realized he was in deep trouble last Friday after he met the conditions
for “administrative bail." "We
told him that orders had come from above to get to the root of the matter, and
that's when he began to make useful statements," said the source.
Mr.
Tukur reportedly received $40 million from the office of the National Security
Adviser after he boasted that he was in a position to negotiate the release of
the abducted Chibok girls using some contacts in Chad, including Chadian
President Idriss Deby.
However,
the EFCC sources said the ostensible negotiation were botched from the very
beginning by Mr. Tukur's deceptive moves. For example, President Déby
reportedly received only $5 million from Mr. Tukur, who then helped himself to
$35 million.
One
EFCC source said the former presidential aide has claimed that he shared the
bulk of the "negotiation" funds with his boss, Mr. Jonathan.
Mr.
Tukur's alleged disclosures are bound to be unsettling for the former president’s
camp, one source said. According to him, Mr. Tukur has volunteered information
regarding his role in other financial scandals unrelated to his arrest.
A
source at the Presidency told SaharaReporters that President Muhammadu Buhari
was shocked to learn from the Chadian president about the insincerity of the
former administration's actions regarding the abducted schoolgirls.
According
to the source, during the recently concluded Regional Security Summit in Abuja,
Mr. Buhari had pulled aside his Chadian counterpart to find out why Mr. Deby
collected $40m from Nigeria to secure the release of Chibok girls and did
nothing in return.
The
Chadian president reportedly revealed that he was only told that the Jonathan
administration had voted only $10 million for the negotiations. He added that
Mr. Jonathan and his aides had abandoned the negotiation midway, forcing Chad
to abandon its efforts even though Chadian troops were close to cornering Boko
Haram militants and freeing the girls.
Mr.
Deby reportedly told President Buhari that Mr. Tukur and other Nigerian
officials to reach Mr. Jonathan to discuss the rescue plan.
The
source stated that on one occasion when the Chadian leader reached the former
Nigerian president, Mr. Jonathan feigned ignorance about the negotiations. At
the time, the funds had apparently been diverted.
Chadian
troops finally withdrew from Nigerian territory after a breakdown of talks even
though they had made great progress in pursuit of Boko Haram insurgents,
helping Nigeria's vastly depleted army to free up territories captured by the
Islamist terrorists.
Mr.
Tukur made a total of five trips to N’Djamena, the capital of Chad. Our
Presidency source said Mr. Tukur used presidential jets to ferry cash during
the failed negotiations to release the Chibok girls.
The
detention of Mr. Tukur is considered a major blow to ex-President Jonathan.
During Mr. Jonathan’s five-year reign as President, Mr. Tukur was popularly
referred to as Prime Minister. The Adamawa-born civil servant served as a
go-between for Jonathan, his ministers and aides.
Ironically,
Mr. Tukur was Mr. Buhari’s personal assistant in 1984 when the Nigerian
president was a military head of state.
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