We’ll Return Nigeria’s $15m Soon – South-Africa

                         
South Africa has promised to return the $15 million arms deal money it earlier seized from Nigeria. The South African High Commissioner to Nigeria, Myakayaka Manzini, who featured in a programme on  African International Television, AIT, “Matters Arising”, yesterday, said the process of refunding the money was already on.

He said: “Both countries have decided on a political solution to the issue. Nigeria is a big ally and a brother.”

According to Manzini, South Africa will do everything to maintain cordial relations with Nigeria and would not do anything to hurt her national interests.

He added that South Africa had been selling arms to Nigeria and that his country was prepared to sell arms to Nigeria to fight Boko Haram.

The envoy, however, did not give the timeline when the seized money will be returned but assured that it will be very soon.

South African authorities had seized US$5.7 million arms money from Nigeria, just three weeks after another $9.3 million cash reportedly smuggled by two Nigerians and an Israeli for arms purchase from the country was confiscated, bringing the total amount seized to $15 million (about N2 billion).

The private jet conveying the $9.3 million stashed in three suitcases had landed at Lanseria International Airport, Johannesburg, on September 5. The South Africa Revenue Service, SARS, said customs officers became suspicious when the passengers’ luggage were unloaded and put through the scanners.

The National Prosecuting Authority, NPA, in South Africa said there was an invoice for helicopters and armaments intended to be used in Nigeria.

The second transaction, was between Cerberus Risk Solutions, an arms broker in Cape Town, and Societe D’Equipments Internationaux, said to be a Nigerian company based in Abuja.

It was gathered that the deal, however,  collapsed after Cerberus which had earlier received from Nigeria R60 million (N1.02 billion) in its account at Standard Bank, tried to repay the money as it could not resolve its registration formalities with the South African authorities.

Cerberus was previously registered as a broker with the National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC), but the registration expired in May this year.

The marketing and contracting permits also expired at the same time. The company has since applied for re-registration, but the application lay in the NCACC’s mailbox for more than two months.

It was said that an alleged attempt by Cerberus to pay the money back to the Nigerian company, alerted bank officials who became suspicious.

The Nigerian government, however, argued that both transactions were legitimate and there was nothing shady in the arms deal.

Cash-for-arms deal shady— APC

However, the All Progressives Congress, APC, has slammed the PDP-led Federal Government for what it called insulting and disingenuous explanation aimed at deceiving Nigerians over the US$9.3 million cash-for-arms deal that went awry in South Africa, saying everything about the deal was shady.

In a statement issued in Abuja, yesterday, by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the deal violates the foreign currency laws of Nigeria and South Africa; violates Nigeria’s Money Laundering law as well as the Public Procurement Act and makes a mess of the Federal Government’s cashless policy.

In addition, it said, all the circumstances surrounding the transaction were umbrageous, including the fact that the funds involved, though in cash, were neither declared before departure in Nigeria nor declared on arrival in South Africa.

“Based on these shady circumstances, one can safely conclude that the arms to be procured, if at all, were not meant for any Boko Haram fight as claimed by the government but perhaps a ploy to stockpile arms for the private militia of the PDP ahead of next year’s general elections.

“As we said in our earlier statements on this issue, the office of the National Security Adviser, NSA, cannot and does not procure arms for the armed services. These services procure their own weapons. Therefore, it baffles that the office of the NSA issued the end-user certificate for the transactions. This is a shady deal,” APC said.

The party said in order to buttress its assertion that the whole deal was shady, there are questions that the Federal Government has bluntly refused to answer in connection with the ill-fated deal. These include why a private plane was used for a supposedly-official deal when there are over 10 aircraft in the Presidential Fleet.

“Nigerians are also eager to know why the money for the purchase of the arms was not transferred to the country’s Embassy in South Africa for onward transfer to the contractor, if indeed a contractor was used as claimed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, or the money transferred directly to the contractor, and why the Nigerian government chose to deal with an arms contractor with questionable registration in South Africa.

“If indeed the transaction was clean and official, which representatives of the office of the NSA and the Chief of Defence Staff were on the dollar-ferrying plane? Who indeed was the arms meant for? And perhaps the most important information of all: Who and who were on the plane?

“Nigerians are more interested in who was on the plane rather than who was not on it, hence the government should stop hiding behind ‘national security’ and come out to identify those on the plane”, APC said.

The party said “irrespective of the feverish moves by the Federal Government, using less-than-sincere officials, to spin the whole shady deal and make it look clean and official, the truth is that even terrorists could not have been engaged in a shadier and more crooked deal to obtain weapons.”

Reps bicker over seizure of $9.3m

Members of the House of Representatives, yesterday, bickered over the seizure of  the $9.3million for the purchase of arms by the Federal Government.

At the centre-stage of the whole drama were the Deputy Leader of the House, Leo Ogor, PDP, Delta and the Minority Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila,  who drew the first blood raising an order of privilege.

Gbajabiamila, who read extensively from a newspaper, said: ”Leo Ogor as a principal officer  is free to speak on his own without quoting the whole House and this issue has embarrassed the House”.

At this point Ogor raised a point of order but Gbajabiamila continued: ”If smuggling arms into the country is the only alternative to defeat the insurgents, we owe no apology to anyone.

“I want to extricate myself from this.

”Over the week, there have been many editorials concerning the conduct and position of the House on the smuggling of the seized $9.3million as voiced by the Deputy Leader of the House, Hon. Leo Ogor, where he said that ‘WE’ (the House) owe no apology to Nigerians regarding our action to kill the motion on the matter during plenary.

”This matter raised serious concern to the extent that a constituent of mine challenged me saying that the House is a part of the problem bedeviling this country due to the comment of just one member who instead of speaking for himself choose to use the word, ‘WE’.

“Now, Hon. Ogor is a principal officer. But he does not have the right to speak for the collective interest of members except for himself. So, I take an exception to the use of the word, ‘WE’, when he should be speaking for himself”, he said.

Speaker, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal after he listened to Gbajabiamila, voiced consternation at the Minority Leader for raising the matter  at that stage.

Tambuwal said: “Hon. Femi, I’m surprised that you are bringing this matter up at this stage. Have you made any effort to reach Hon Leo Ogor, asking him  whether he actually said what was published?”

This did not go down well with Ogor who repeatedly shouted point of order until the presiding officer, Aminu Tambuwal repeatedly shouted “sit down gentlemen” sit down gentlemen” before he  granted him audience.

Leo Ogor said that he was disappointed  with Gbajabiamila.

He said that they had seen each other severally, and he (Gbajabiamila) never asked if he (Ogor) actually said the House owes nobody any apologies for killing the said motion on the $9.3m controversy.

”My respected colleagues, I want to start my submission by expressing my deepest disappointment at my colleague, the Minority Leader for seeing such a publication and never bothered to find out from me if really I granted the said interview or said what was being published”.

In order not to stress the obvious; Speaker Tambuwal  suspended further comment on the matter and ruled that both members see him in private after the plenary.