The Presidency has refuted reports that President Muhammadu Buhari received $300,000 and five armoured SUVs from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) in the aftermath of the attack on his convoy in Kaduna last year.
In July, last year, Buhari’s convoy, then a presidential aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was caught in an explosion that rocked Kaduna; while he escaped unhurt, three of his security aides were injured and his vehicle, a Toyota Land Cruiser, and another one behind it were badly damaged.
Former NSA, Sambo Dasuki, is currently facing trial for allegedly diverting funds meant to procure weapons in the fight against insurgency.
Revelations coming out from the arms probe have indicted several other high-profile personalities.
The presidency has reacted sharply to the story carried by an online mediium that Buhari had benefited from the arms money by the compensation money he got from Jonathan.
Special Adviser to the President on Media Femi Adesina, denied the report, but admitted that one armoured SUV and one untreated SUV were sent to Buhari in the aftermath of the attack, adding that the vehicles were in keeping with his entitlements as a former head of state under the Remuneration of Former Presidents and Heads of State (And other Ancillary Matters) Decree of 1999.
The statement reads in part: “Our attention has been drawn to reports doing the rounds, especially in Internet-based media, that President Muhammadu Buhari received $300,000 and up to five armoured SUVs from the Office of the National Security Adviser in the aftermath of the attack on his convoy in Kaduna last year.
“We unequivocally deny that President Buhari received $300,000 or any monetary compensation whatsoever from the Jonathan Presidency or any of its officials in the aftermath of that attack, or at any other time since then.
“Section 3, Sub Section 1 of that Decree provides that three vehicles will be provided for former heads of state and replaced every four years.”
He asserted that there was, therefore, nothing untowards, illegal or tending to corruption in former Head of State Buhari and presidential aspirant, as he then was, receiving vehicles which he was statutorily entitled to, from the Federal government of Nigeria.
Adesina said: “President Buhari had in keeping with his austere, Spartan and frugal disposition shunned most of his entitlements as a former head of state, but was prevailed upon by his supporters to accept the two vehicles for his personal safety in the aftermath of the dastardly attempt to assassinate him.
“It is preposterous to think that the President will allow his acclaimed reputation of honesty and incorruptibility to be tarnished by accepting a questionable monetary compensation from a discredited regime.”
-Leadership
