Boko Haram: Buhari blames continued insecurity on Jonathan’s administration

Buhari said that the terrorists have continued to operate due to the previous government’s “abuse of trust in the purchase of equipment and other ammunition to fight the war against Boko Haram".

President Muhammadu Buhari has criticized the Goodluck Jonathan administration for failing to stop terrorist sect, Boko Haram during its tenure.

Buhari said that the terrorists have continued to operate due to the previous government’s “abuse of trust in the purchase of equipment and other ammunition to fight the war against Boko Haram”, Channels reports.

The president made the remarks on Wednesday, December 9, 2015, during a dinner for members of the House of Representatives at the old Banquet Hall of the State House in Abuja.

“Unfortunately for us as a people, we uncovered that billions of Naira and hundreds of millions of dollars were expended by the previous government to acquire good equipment and ammunition so that the military can use, but unfortunately, there was abuse of trust at various levels that cost Nigeria a lot of lives and goodwill,” Buhari said.

“We cannot keep quiet about it and facts are coming out gradually. It is very unfortunate. It is a known fact that Nigeria earned its respect from Burma to Zaire to Liberia to Sierra Leone. But it reached a stage where the Nigerian military could not secure 14 local governments out of the 774 local governments.

“As I have always said, how has the mighty fallen? We are doing our best and I hope our best will be good enough,” he added.

Corruption under Jonathan’s government has been a major subject of discussion in recent times after it was alleged that officials misappropriated funds meant for Nigeria’s war against Boko Haram.

The discovery was made by a special panel constituted by Buhari to investigate arms purchases in the country from 2007-2015.

Former National Security Adviser (NSA) Sambo Dasuki is at the fore of the investigations and is alleged to have supervised the alleged laundering of $2 billion funds meant for the procurement of arms.

He was arrested by the Department of State Services (DSS) on December 1, 2015 and handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) the day after.

READ: Buhari orders Dasuki's arrest

The former NSA is reported to have implicated several prominent persons in the deal including former governors, ex-ministers and members of Jonathan’s party, Peoples Democratic Party(PDP).

READ: Dasuki has started confessing

Dasuki’s lawyer however denied the report that his client had become an informant.

READ: Bafarawa reportedly received N4.6 billion from Dasuki for spiritual purposes

Jonathan has also denied authorizing the release of the stated funds despite the former NSA’s claim that he got the necessary presidential approval for the transactions.

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