President of the Christian Association of the Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, and former Niger-Delta militant, Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, have been cleared by the Presidential Panel of Investigation set up to determine the level of involvement of the duo in the botched arms deal.
According to PRNigeria, who quoted authoritative sources, on Tuesday said the secret panel cleared the CAN President while also dismissing allegations that Dokubo-Asari was on the flight.
According to the source: “A special team, comprising security agents, intelligence experts and officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has investigated the $9.3 million cash-for- arms deal and submitted its report to the presidency.
“The committee confirmed that the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Oritsejafor, had no connection with the transaction.
“It was true that the CAN President’s jet was used but we found out that it was without his knowledge. As at the time in question, the aircraft was on lease. And you may be aware that the lease trend is peculiar to private jet owners in the country.”
It will be recalled that a private aircraft belonging to Oritsejafor was used to transport some unnamed persons and cash to South Africa, meant for the purchase of arms from the black market, to help bolster Nigeria’s counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency efforts in three states of the North-east
This, however, led to widespread speculations in the media and sentiments being expressed by politicians on the issue in Nigeria.
According to reports, three individuals aboard the plane whose identity has not been disclosed to date, were subsequently briefly detained in South-Africa while the cash was confiscated by that country’s financial authorities.
However, there were insinuations that Niger Delta activist, Dokubo-Asari was one of those who flew in the plane.
“It is the view of the committee that Oritsejafor cannot be held liable for any shuttle made by a lease firm.
“As for the manifest of the plane, the committee also discovered that Dokubo-Asari was not among those on board the aircraft. There was no mention of Dokubo-Asari in the manifest presented during the investigation,” the source noted.
The source also expressed surprise that the matter was made public by South African authorities in the first place since an end user certificate duly signed by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) was presented by those who were on the plane.
The source said: “The committee’s findings revealed that the ONSA has the statutorily and legitimately mandate to issue end-user certificate for such arms transactions. The imputations surrounding the role of the ONSA were unfounded, baseless and ill-motivated.
“The decision of South Africa to return $15million to Nigeria lent credence to the legality of the transaction. Certainly, Nigeria had no case to answer.”
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