Details of the Dasuki Gates and Methuh EFCC

Nigeria has been dealing with a number of unpleasant situations in the recent few years. First, there were the falling oil prices and Boko Haram, and now it’s a scandal popularly known as the Dasuki Gates. This scandal involves some of the biggest names associated to the country’s NSA (National Security Advisor) agency, at the heart of which is ex-NSA Colonel Sambo Dasuki.

The $2billion arms deal fraud was unearthed by the presidential investigations committee created under the Goodluck Jonathan government. This committee found in its investigations that an embezzlement of over $2 billion took place from the NSA which was being headed by Colonel Dasuki at the time. And hence the name Dasuki Gates. According to this investigation, close to N643.8 billion were spent over and above the allowed budget for conducting an international arm’s deal by the government. In addition to this amount, another sum to the tune of $2.2 billion was used foreign currency component by the then government. Due to the NSA’s primary involvement in the deal, the then NSA chief Dasuki was investigated and found guilty of embezzling funds to assist in the re-election efforts of President Jonathan. Dasuki Gates has indeed created a chaotic political scene in the country right now.

For his involvement in the Dasuki Gates, Sambo Dasuki was arrested by the Department of State Services (DSS) on 1^stDecember 2015. The very next day he was handed over to Economic and Financial Crimes (EFC) for further procedures.

Another surprising revelation that came out of this Dasuki Gates is the Metuh EFCC connection. OlisaMetuh was the spokesperson of PDP (People’s Democratic Party) during this time, and alleges that his name was dragged in this scandal by the EFCC without basis. Apart from Metuh EFCC spat, another big name in connection with the Dasuki Gates is of the former Chief of Defence Staff, Alex Badeh. Both Metuh and Badeh were presented before Justice Okon Abang in a common trial on March 24 2016. The trial is still underway.

The Metuh EFCC spat began when the EFCC accused Olisa Metuh of laundering N400 million amount as part of the arms deal fraud. Metuh of course denies these allegations. Alex Badeh has also been accused of laundering about N3.9billion by the EFCC in this fraud.

In addition to the Metuh-EFCC issue, another big part of the Dasuki Gates is the arrest of Mr. Nicholas Ashinze, who was a special assistant to Colonel Dasuki during his stint. Ashinze was detained but not formally charged by the EFCC in his connection to this fraud on Dec 23, 2015, but he claims he was detained illegally since his is innocent. He is suing the EFCC for N500 million for detaining him illegally.