Obaigbena Responds To EFCC, Claims Nigerian Editors Collected N50 Million
On Monday, the president of the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN) Nduka Obaigbena announced that the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) had collected N50 million from the officer of former National Security Advisor (NSA) Colonel Sambo Dasuki, according to media reports.
On Monday, the president of the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN) Nduka Obaigbena announced that the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) had collected N50 million from the officer of former National Security Advisor (NSA) Colonel Sambo Dasuki, according to media reports.
Mr. Obaigbena had earlier revealed this information in a letter, dated December 30th, 2015, to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
In December, the EFCC sought Mr. Obaigbena for questioning regarding the $2 billion in arms procurement which was illegally diverted by former NSA Dasuki to assist former President Goodluck Jonathan’s 2015 election bid.
In the letter, the former editor in chief of ThisDay newspaper explained that not only did NPAN receive funds but also the NGE.
The revelation was important given that the NGE had called for a probe into Dasukigate.
According to Mr. Obaigbena, the NGE secretariat received N50 million from the office of former NSA Dasuki.
Femi Adesina, a special adviser to President Buhari on Media and Publicity, was formerly the president of the NGE.
However, Mr. Obaigbena argued that neither the NGE nor the NPAN knew from which subhead the funds came from.
“There is simply no nexus between payments made for compensation, to us victims of terrorism as well as to newspapers in compensation for an unprovoked attack on free speech, and any arms purchase budget,” he stated.
Given these facts, Mr. Obaigbena argued, a list of all the payments made by Office of the National Security Advisor (ONSA) between 2014-2015 should be made public. The publication of these payments would provide a clearer picture of what happened to the over N70 billion allocated to the Defence Ministry for the purchase of arms.
The former chief editor claimed that as victims of terrorism NPAN and the NGE deserved “compensation”. He went on to call upon the Federal Government (FG) to provide compensation to all of the victims of Boko Haram.
“The central purpose of government is the security of life and property of all citizens. And the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, the United Nations Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as well as other international law instruments and conventions of which Nigeria is a signatory underscores this – and, in fact, requires that we receive effective remedy and compensation,” Mr. Obaigbena said.
When contacted on the N50 million received by the NGE, Mr. Adesina refused to comment but recommended that his successor Garba Deen Mohammed be contacted. Unfortunately, Mr. Mohammed also declined to comment.
BY SAHARA REPORTERS, NEW YORK
No comments:
Post a Comment