Former
President Goodluck Jonathan in an interview with International news channel,
France24 disclosed that the present government is still using the equipment his
administration bought while he was president.
He
Said: “The new government is working hard and I believe they are still using
the equipment we procured. The budget is still being debated, no new equipment
has been bought, so even those equipment the president is using to prosecute
the war against Boko Haram are those equipment we procured and I believe that
with what we left behind and the new ones they will acquire, this issue of Boko
Haram will be taken to a logical conclusion.
When
Boko Haram started in Nigeria, we had no terror experience. Yes we had armed
robbery and other common crimes, but terrorism was different because the people
involved were not afraid to die. So, you need a different mechanism to confront
terrorism, you need superior technology, so that you will be able to stop them
even before the attack. We never had the equipment, but when we were
confronted, we started acquiring and before I left office we built reasonable
capacity and I believe with what we left behind and also with what the new
government will acquire, they will be able to prosecute this terror war to a
reasonable conclusion” he said
When
asked to speak on the ongoing $2.1 billion arms deal scandal, Jonathan said
"This
issue always comes up but I always insist that the matters are being
investigated and they are in our own courts and in Nigeria where our issues are
before the courts, you don't make comments on it. It is considered prejudice.
But one thing you will also realize is that
for us to have conducted elections across the country, all parts of the
country, that means that we prosecuted the war against Boko Haram to a
reasonable level. Otherwise, we couldn't have been in position to conduct
elections across the country and we couldn't have fought Boko Haram with bare
hands. This issues of corruption, issues of misuse of funds, being investigated
before the courts and I wouldn't want to compromise the position of our laws
because while I served as the President of Nigeria, I made sure that the
judiciary had their own independence. I made sure that there is maximum
separation of powers between all arms of government. So haven left office, I
don't think I will be the person that will say things that will be detrimental
to the judicial processes" he said
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