A former presidential adviser on political matters, Mr Ahmed Gulak, has said no iota of guilt will be established against the immediate past president, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, no matter how closely details of transactions in the arms deal are scrutinised.
Gulak, who spoke in an interview with an online newspaper, Premium Times, explained that the Jonathan he knew would never have authourised the transfer of state funds into private accounts in the name of prayers, as allegedly discovered in the arms deal probe involving Colonel SamboDasuki (retd).
“Yes, there is a probe going on. Dasuki is facing trial; some ministers are facing trial. Let us allow the court to do their job.The Goodluck I know, you can probe him from morning till night, seven days a week, you will never see him in those things.
“That he authorised for government money to be transferred from government account to a private account in the name of prayers, you can probe Goodluck Jonathan and you can never find him supporting that. That is ridiculous; that is madness. Goodluck will never support that.
“I believe what happened was wrong, for government money to be transferred from government account to private account without any job done [and] to the tune of N4.6 billion in the name of prayers. It was wrong. Let us call a spade a spade,” he said.
The former presidential aide stressed that, more than ever, Nigerians needed the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) now. He submitted that an opposition party remains the spice of democracy, as it would keep the governing party on its toes.
He, however, canvassed for a new PDP that would be led by “new managers”, although he declared support for the current acting national chairman, Alhaji Ali Modu Sheriff.
Gulak said impunity of the leadership of the party wreacked a lot of havoc on the party’s performance in the last elections and led to the loss of many leaders and members of the party.
He remarked that if the current leadership could reposition the PDP to “harvest the fallout” from the governing All Progressives Congress (APC), the party could find its way back to power. (Nigerian Tribune)