Falana Tells FG To Sue And Recover Money -Seized $15M
The legal practitioner told the federal government to sue the Isreali
and two Nigerians arrested in South Africa in connection with the
$15million arms deal with a view to recovering the money.
The advice was contained in a statement issued in Lagos on Friday by Mr. Falana, a copy obtained by the Nation.
He said there is considerable evidence to prove that the suspects,
alleged to be contractors, breached the terms of the deal for the supply
of the arms, and to that effect the Nigerian government is perfectly
entitled to sue them with a view to recovering the entire contract sum
of $15 million.
“As independent contractors, they were awarded contracts for the
supply of arms by the Federal Government and paid accordingly. It is
indubitably clear that the suspects were negligent for failing to
conduct due diligence. Hence, they were dealing with companies that are
not authorized to trade in arms in South Africa. By the way, when was
the responsibility of purchasing weapons for the armed forces of
Nigeria transferred from the Ministry of Defence to the office of the
NSA,” Falana said.
The lawyer reiterated that the Nigerian government cannot be held
liable for the alleged criminal activities of the suspects, and blamed
the office of the NSA for embarrassing the nation by creating the wrong
impression that Nigeria had breached the law of another country.
“As a sovereign entity the Federal Government can place orders
for the purchase of arms, either from another government or from
independent arms dealers. But when the office of the NSA decided to
award contracts to private corporate bodies for the supply of arms, it
could not have clothed them with immunity or licence to breach local or
foreign laws. Notwithstanding their inexplicable negligence, the
suspects should be advised to contest the order of the High Court which
authorised the seizure of the funds,” he said.Falana, urged the Federal Government to caution Col. Sambo Dasuki
(rtd.), the National Security Adviser (NSA), to stop dragging Nigeria’s
name in the mud over the controversial $15million arms deal in South
Africa. He said instead of exposing Nigeria to more ridicule, the
Federal Government should stop accepting responsibility for the alleged
criminal actions of the suspects indicted in the alleged laundering of
the sum of $15 million.
The lawyer, who condemned the office of NSA also questioned the moral
integrity of the Federal Government to threaten to deal with the South
African government over the breach of law carried out by a private
businessmen and corporate bodies involved in the suspicious
transactions.
“By asking South Africa to reciprocate the gesture of allowing
MTN and DSTV to operate in Nigeria, is the Federal Government saying
that both South African companies are allowed to breach the law of the
land?” he asked.
Falana also blamed the National Assembly for treating the matter of
urgent national importance with levity and left several questions
unanswered. He questioned how both chambers failed to examine the
statement of the NPA which indicates that the official explanations for
the suspicious transactions were filled with contradictions.According to him, the Asset Forfeiture Unit in the office of the
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in South Africa had in the past
three weeks seized two tranches of funds totalling $15million being
payment for the alleged purchase of arms by the Federal Government. He
said after the first $9.3 million smuggled into South Africa by an
Israeli and two Nigerians was seized last month, the suspicion
surrounding the development revealed that the South African company
involved in the deal is not a licensed arms dealer and that the jet used
to ferry the money belongs to Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, the President of
the Christian Association of Nigeria, who is an ally of President
Goodluck Jonathan.
It would be recalled that on October the Federal Government threatened the South African government over the second confiscation of the sum of $5.7 million meant for arms purchase to fight the terrorists’ group, Boko Haram.However, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor has denied involvement in the controversial $9.3 million smuggled with his private jet into South Africa by two Nigerians and an Israeli.
0 comments:
Post a Comment