"Goodluck Jonathan" ‘Nothing wrong with prosecuting ex-president for corruption,’ CAN says

The remark was made by the group’s Chairman, Apostle Alexander Bamgbola on Saturday, February 13, 2016, on the side-lines of an interdenominational service.



 

The Lagos State branch of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has said that former president, Goodluck Jonathan should not be exempted from prosecution for corruption.

The remark was made by the group’s Chairman, Apostle Alexander Bamgbola on Saturday, February 13, 2016, on the side-lines of an interdenominational service, Punch reports.

“What is wrong with it? A former President of Peru (Alberto Fujimori) was jailed,” Bamgbola said when he was asked his opinion on calls for Jonathan’s prosecution.

“Also, a popular prime minister of Israel (Ehud Olmert) was jailed. If a nation puts you in a position of trust and you betray that trust, you should go to jail no matter who you are.

“I have no sympathy for anybody. Just make sure you get it right, and we get the facts right as well,” 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.

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).

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