Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday rebutted reports in the social media that he received $300,000 and five armoured Sport Utility Vehicles (SUV) from the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Former NSA, Col Sambo Dasuki, under whose tenure the alleged gift to Buhari was made, is facing trial for misappropriating a large chunk of the $2.1 billion meant for purchase of arms to battle insurgency in the North East.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, took to his twitter handle fault the allegation.
Shehu, while admitting that the President received two SUVs from the Jonathan administration, vehemently denied collecting $300,000 as monetary compensation for the attack on his convoy in Kanua last year.
Shehu said the claim in the social media that monetary gift and the SUVs were given to the President in the wake of the attack on his convoy in Kaduna last year, was not true.
He said, “We unequivocally deny that President Buhari received $300,000.00 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.
“While it is true that one armoured SUV and one untreated SUV were sent to the President in the aftermath of the attack, the vehicles were in keeping with his entitlements as a former Head of State under renumeration of former Presidents and Heads of State (and other Ancillary Matters) Decree of 1999.
“There was nothing untoward, illegal or tending to corruption in the former Head of State and Presidential aspirant as he was, receiving vehicles to which he was statutorily entitled, from the Federal Government of Nigeria.”
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