Addressing a news conference in Abuja yesterday, senior special assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on Public Communication, Doyin Okupe stressed that the cleric had no business with the transaction though his aircraft was leased out for commercial purposes.
Okupe also defended the federal government’s handling of the saga, saying all information about it could not be disclosed because of the security implications.
“The Nigerian government cannot share all information about the issues because it is a security matter. It is an issue which we cannot just bring to public domain,” he said. “I am surprised that Nigerians want to discuss security issues openly and publicly when a war is still going on. These are very serious national security affairs and running a government is not the same thing as running a Shoprite, where everything is on the table and on display.
“Oritsejafor has no business in this matter. It is true that he owns the aircraft but there are over 200 private Nigerians who have jets. Apart from those who use it frequently, some give it out to get some money and defray some of the costs. If you put your jet down, you pay money and parking charges every day.”
Okupe stressed the fact that Pastor Oritsejafor gave his aircraft to a private company to manage.
“He gave the private jet to a company to manage. The company is handing it and these people gave out the plane that is available. What has this to do with Oritsejafor? If I have many cars at the airport and decide to give one to car hire services, and he decides to carry somebody having Indian hemp, will you link it up with the man who gave it out?”
However, like the first deal, the second sum was also to purchase arms from South Africa, but Nigerian government said the money was being returned because the private company it paid the money to was not duly registered in South Africa.
No comments:
Post a Comment