Dasukigate moves to court, Jonathan’s aide among 5 charged

Nigeria began what may turn out to be one of the sensational trials of public office holders on Monday with the arraignment of Colonel Sambo Dasuki, former National Security Adviser and four others in court over charges of money laundering and criminal breach of trust before Justice Hussein Baba Yusuf of Federal Capital Territory, FCT High Court, Maitaima, Abuja.

Those arraigned with Dasuki include Shuaibu Salisu, a former Director of Finance and Administration in the office of the NSA, Aminu Baba Kusa, a former director of NNPC, Acacia Holdings Limited and Reliance Referral Hospital Limited.

The arraignment of the three accused and the two companies is a culmination of about two weeks of speculations and reports in the media about how the former NSA and his officials turned their office into the Automated Teller Machine, ATM for the former administration of President Goodluck Jonathan and the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP between 2013 and 2015.

The 19 count charge bordering on money laundering and criminal breach of trust to the tune of N13, 570,000, 000.00 filed against the accused in court on Monday by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC also bear this out.

One of the counts reads: ‘’’That you, Col. Mohammed Dasuki( rtd.), whist being the National Security Adviser and Shuaibu Salisu, whilst being the Director of Finance and Administration in the Office of the National Security Adviser, and Hon. Warripamowei Dudafa (now at large), whilst being Senior Special Assistant, Domestic Affairs to the President, on or about 27th November, 2014 in Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court entrusted with dominion over certain properties, to wit: the sum of N10, 000,000,000( Ten Billion Naira) being part of the funds in the account of the National Security Adviser with the Central Bank of Nigeria( CBN), the equivalent of which sum you received from the Central Bank of Nigeria in foreign currency to wit: $47,000,000( Forty-Seven Million United States Dollars) and 5.6 million Euros, committed criminal breach of trust in respect of the said property when you claimed to have distributed same to the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) presidential primary election delegates and you thereby committed an offence punishable under section 315 of the Penal Code Act, Cap 532, Vol.4 LFN 2004.’’

Another count reads: ‘‘That you, Col. Muhammed Dasuki( rtd.), whilst being the National Security Adviser, and Shuaibu Salisu, whilst being the Director of Finance and Administration in the Office of the National Security Adviser between October, 2014 and April, 2015 in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court agreed to do an illegal act to wit: criminal breach of trust by public officers in respect of an aggregate sum of N13, 570, 000,000.00( Thirteen Billion, Five Hundred and Seventy Million) being part of the funds in the account of the office of the National Security Adviser and that the same act was done in pursuance of the agreement among you and you thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 97 of the Penal Code Act, Cap 532, Vol.4, LFN 2004.’’ The accused pleaded not guilty to the 19 count charges while Justice Baba-Yusuf adjourned the case to Tuesday, December 15, for hearing on bail applications.

The case continues Tuesday with the hearing for bail application.