President Muhammadu Buhari has said he would be asking more questions about the botched arms deal between the former President Goodluck administration and the government of South Africa.
The South African authorities last September froze $9.3 million transported in cash by two Nigerians and an Israeli for arms purchase. At the time, South Africa said the transaction violated its laws on movement of cash.
The two Nigerians and an Israeli were arrested at the Lanseria International Airport, Johannesburg, on September 5 as they were transporting the cash in a private jet from Abuja.
Buhari told Nigerians in South Africa that he would be taking up the issue when he meets with South African President Jacob Zuma.
“I will attempt to ask him (President Zuma) about our $9.7million which was not correctly transferred,” Buhari told Nigerians in South Africa during a meeting with them in Johannesburg to round off his visit to the country for the African Union (AU) Summit.
The South African security men last September seized the sum of $9.7 million cash as it was being transferred into their country on a private jet by agents of the Federal Government.
Jonathan’s administration dismissed various criticisms that followed the seizure, saying that it was nothing untoward to embark on such transactions in security circles when arms are to be purchased from private companies.
The government explained that it resorted to private puchase of arms to fight Boko Haram because the United States did not only decline to sell arms to Nigeria but also persuaded its allies not to allow sale of arms and ammunition to the country.
But eyebrows were raised about the manner the money was taken to South Africa.
Buhari also promised to look into the cases of Nigerians in South African prisons, saying that he had asked for a comprehensive report on their cases to enable know what to talk about.
“I’m told there are 83 Nigerians in prisons, I don’t know what they have done but I spoke to the President of South Africa this afternoon. He wants to come to Nigeria. There are issues we will talk about, I will certainly talk to him, I hope our ambassador will send a comprehensive report about the court cases, about those who lost properties during the disturbances, Buhari said. ”
President Buhari also assured the Nigerians that his adminiu would do its utmost best to deliver on the promised made to the people of the country.
“Government is determined to secure the country, manage the economy, create employment and fight corruption. Some articulate writers have said if we do not kill corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria. This APC administration intends to kill corruption in Nigeria. We will do our best, I assure you,” he said.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) government, Buhari said, is determined to secure the country, improve the economy and eliminate corruption.
The president also disclosed that the G7 leaders have expressed commitment to helping Nigeria tackle insecurity and develop its oil and gas sectors.
“We are getting the facts and logistic requirements together,” he said.
Buhari urged Nigerians resident in South Africa to be good ambassadors of the country, stressing that Nigerian and South African leaders will soon meet to discuss several issues bordering on their relationship.
“Those of you who have the opportunity to come here and represent us, make sure that you are representing Nigeria, you are all ambassadors of Nigeria. This means a lot of patience, restraint, self-respect and pride. You must have all these,” the President said.
Buhari, at the occasion, lambasted the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for messing up Nigeria, saying that his election was the people’s way of showing them their red card.
According to the preisent, “They remember me more as chairman of PTF than as a former head of state, than a governor or a minister of petroleum. Inspite of the fact that it was during my time that I signed the contract for Warri Refinery, Kaduna Refinery, more than 3,500 lying pipes and more than 20 depot, we got the tankers off the road, we saved lives, we saved fuel, we save the road itself. But from 1999 till date, PDP has messed it up. That is why Nigerians decided to vote me.
“In spite the fact that they say money is working from primaries to my election is a proof that Nigerians know what they want once they make up their minds. You can give them the money, some refuse to take it, some took it and said it is our money and they do exactly what they wanted to do.
“So, why did I join partisan politics in spite of that? When I went home people knew that I have no money I thought they will leave me alone, but they didn’t. They were coming to me, asking me to do this and do that. And I found that the only way I could do it is by joining partisan politics. And maybe if I speak even if I’m not a member at any level, people will listen to me.
“The second that happened that finally convinced me to join partisan politics was what happened to Soviet Union. You know the Soviet Union was an empire in the 20th century that collapsed without a shot being fired. Everybody went home. There was confusion. Now there are 18 countries out of the old Soviet Union. They were more advanced than the western countries in science because they wanted to go to space specifically in 1957, and they had more nuclear war heads and delivering system than Warsaw.
“And they had organised their societies and they had much less crimes and they got jobs for people. When people had no jobs they got one for them. And that was when I decided and I believed that the best form of governance is multi-party democracy with a big caveat: election must be free and fair. And that was why I was in trouble. I moved from APP to ANPP to CPC, eventually to APC.”
Buhari has one regret though: he did not get to be president when he was younger in age.
“How I wish I became head of state when I was a governor, just a few years as a young man. Now at 72, there is a limit to what I can do,” he said.
“But what brought me there I think mainly is because I love this country. I was in the war front for 30 months during our civil war, I lost a lot of loyal people to me, I lost a relative, a lot of Nigerians did too. We lost about two million Nigerian lives just to keep Nigeria one. So nobody should come now and tell us rubbish. We are going to remain one country God has given us another opportunity to reorganise this country. Those who work hard, the society will pay them back.”
Speaking earlier, the Consul-General of Nigeria in South Africa, Ambassador Uche Ajulu-Okeke, told President Buhari that 143 Nigerians were killed in South Africa between 2011 and 2014; 81 were in Johannesburg prison.
“Out of this 81 Nigerians, 21 have been convicted,” she said,
Ajulu-Okeke also disclosed that shops and other property worth millions of Rands belonging to Nigerians were destroyed during the recent xenophobic attacks.
The President of the Nigerian Union in South Africa, Mr. Ikechukwu Anyene, congratulated Buhari on his election and inauguration, saying “your victory is victory over poverty, hunger and signals hope for the common man”.
Ayene urged the president to facilitate compensation for Nigerians affected by the xenophobic attacks.
