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Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, Professor Itse Sagay has advised President Muhammadu Buhari to apply caution over recent calls by some Nigerians that former President Goodluck Jonathan be probed over the controversial $2.1 billion arms scandal.
He said the President Buhari must be diplomatic in handling the matter as it is a very sensitive one.
He advised Buhari to send somebody that is of high rank in the administration to talk to Jonathan.
He said: “It is a sensitive matter – we have to be very careful. My personal view is that somebody that is of high rank in this administration should talk to Jonathan. We have to handle the issue diplomatically. I’m not one of those persons that will say go and haul your former president into jail. The matter is sensitive. Somebody can be sent to Jonathan to get his own reactions or views regarding those who have been mentioning his name, and see what can be recovered. We should be careful about how we handle the issue. The issue can affect the image of the country.”
It would be recalled that Professor Sagay recently disagreed with the ex-minister of national planning, Dr Abubakar Suleiman, concerning the blameworthiness of Jonathan in the ongoing anti-corruption cases.
Suleiman, who is the spokesman for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ministers’ forum, had said that the former president could not be held liable because no stolen funds had been traced to the former president’s personal bank accounts.
Former ministers who served during ex-president Goodluck Jonathan’s administration met with him last month amid indications that the presidency may have authorised the EFCC to probe and prosecute Jonathan.
Many of the ministers were said to be scared of President Muhammadu Buhari’s ongoing anti-graft war.
The President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina had said the EFCC did not need the president’s approval to probe Jonathan.
