Dasuki: What Is Criminal And What Is Not

 

Sambo Dasuki

By Aloy Ejimakor

The purpose of this piece is to go beneath the veneer and separate what’s criminal from what is not concerning the Sambo Dasuki arms contract scandal. I will not take sides and I will not beat around bush. I will, instead, simply go straight to the point and discuss the allegations and their criminal/legal implications in seriatim. Below is the thesis:

First – regarding the entirety of the over $2B presumably spent by Dasuki on arms purchases and whatnot for the Nigerian armed forces, whether that’s criminal or not will depend on the following: If it’s not the legal duty of the NSA to purchase arms for the armed forces, then his doing so potentially constitutes an illegal act both under the Procurement Act and the pertinent Appropriation Act. The same is true of all sundry expenditures or contracts the former NSA made that should have been made by the respective arms of the Nigerian armed forces. Unless some arcane law permitted otherwise, most Nigerians – and indeed universal best practices and the conventional wisdom – have the notion that it’s beyond the purview of the NSA to purchase arms for the armed forces. Besides the horrendous amount, this departure from the norm is the crux of the Peoples’ case against Sambo Dasuki.

Second – the disbursements to PDP stalwarts. Here, we have Jim Nwobodo (admitted receiving N500M); Peter Odili (admitted receiving N100M); Bode George (admitted receiving $30K). Now, these people have said that they didn’t receive these monies from Sambo Dasuki but from PDP officials, and that the monies were meant for the 2015 presidential elections or matters related thereto. If true, then these disbursements are not criminal or even illegal. A political party – PDP, APC, etc – has the right to disburse monies to apparatchiks for whatever such political party deems fit and proper, provided the enterprise is legal, and source funds legit. Campaigns and related activities are matters legitimately under the expenditure purview of political parties. Case closed. However, it turns criminal/illegal if the patent or latent source of the money is any arm of Nigerian government, including the office of the NSA.

Third – Dokpesi and his billions. Now, this one is neither black, nor white. Rather, it’s a whole lot of gray plus some smoking mirrors; and here’s why: Is there a reasonable nexus between the security mandates of the NSA and some pertinent TV programming? If the answer is yes, then Dokpesi and his AIT are within their rights to be paid by the NSA to render such services, subject to the dictates of the Procurement Act. Yet, given that many Nigerians are inclined to believe that there’s no such nexus or connection, the giver (Dasuki) and receiver (Dokpesi) have criminal cases to answer. Further, if it’s true that the payment is not germane to national security (Dasuki’s job) but the PDP presidential campaign (Muazu’s job), a prima facie case can also be made that the transaction is potentially criminal; and some vicarious liability might thereby be implicated.

Fourth – Was the over $2B spent by Dasuki voted under the pertinent Appropriation Act(s)? To answer this question, one needs to examine the line-item votes made for the entire armed forces; the security votes of the president, and that of the office of the NSA within the timeframe in question. Assuming that the amount was voted therefore, and the proper person to spend it was the NSA, then his mere spending of it, standing alone, cannot be criminal. What will be clearly criminal are these: That Dasuki inflated/forged the contracts; and that he had no authority – under the Appropriation Act – to oversee such spending. In this very later case, Dasuki shall be severally and jointly liable with any of his principals that delegated such powers to him.

Fifth – comprises of the related revelations, so far un-admitted, involving Bafarawa (N4B plus); Yuguda (various amounts); Metuh (about N450M); and others, few, far and in-between. Now, if Bafarawa was given the money by Dasuki from the public till, that’s criminal unless it was for some verifiable/valuable services rendered to the office of the NSA. If in fact it was for ‘prayers’ as widely alleged, then that’s not only criminal but abominable. On the other hand, if the money came from PDP coffers to Bafarawa, it’s arguably not criminal, except to the extent that the sheer quantum of the amount and the hush manner of its disbursement raises credible suspicions of money laundering, if not grand theft.

Finally – what about the billions that passed through Emir Sanusi when he was CBN governor? Now, if it’s true, as reported, that Sanusi stated that the disbursements were ‘donations’, then criminal culpability will turn on whether such donations are authorized by law. In considering this question, we need to recall other donations the same Sanusi had contemporaneously made to some universities and the Kano State government. If such donations are not authorized by law, then it’s Sanusi (the donor) that will be held culpable, not the donees (Dasuki, the universities and Kano State government), except to the extent that the sums may become subject to civil forfeiture.

Aloy Ejimakor wrote from aejimakor@gmail.com