PHOTO:Former President Goodluck Jonathan defends Sambo Dasuki ,saying the former NSA did not Steal $2.2billion, as the allegations are not true

According to media report, former President of Nigeria, who 'famously' said “stealing is not corruption", has come to the defense of the embattled former National Security Adviser (NSA), who his presently in EFCC custody for corrupt charges Col. Sambo Dasuki (Rtd.).

The former President Goodluck Jonathan in his usual way, at a conference, was alleged to have said the corruption cases levied against Dasuki is unfortunate, as the case of stealing  money meant for Arms by Dasuki are not totally true. 

He said  the accused did not steal the said amount, which was put at 2.2billion American dollars...remember this was the President that said on live Television..EbonylifeTv to be précised...stealing is not a corruption...

While giving a speech at the said conference, he was quoted to have allegedly said:

“They said the National Security Adviser (Sambo Dasuki) stole $2.2billion. I don’t believe somebody can just steal $2.2 billion. We bought warships, we bought aircraft, we bought lots of weapons for the army and so on and so forth and you are still saying 2.2 billion, so where did we get the money to buy all those things? That was his question....he went further to say:

“Yes, there were some issues. Yes, there are still corruption issues but some of it were over blown. I’d say exaggerated and they give a very bad impression about our nation. You cannot say the national security adviser stole $2.2billion. It is not just possible.”

After saying all these, that was when he realized he shouldn’t have said anything, since the matter was in court, and he could likely be a witness to such case, He now said:

“One thing about the issue of corruption is that these matters are in court, let’s allow some of these processes to end. Lately some judges’ (homes) were also invaded. There are so many things involved and we have to follow up these matters to conclusion before we know the fact.

“I don’t want to be seen a former president challenging what the sitting government is doing so I have decided to keep quiet for the court to look into them.”

He said allegations of corruption were not unique to his administration or the country.

He said: “You will see that it has become a major topic whenever there is a change of government … I am not saying there is no corruption in Nigeria, there is corruption. If you look at corruption there is almost no country that is free, the degree varies, the perception varies. 

“Transparency International talks about the way corruption is being perceived in different economies, why do we talk about the way corruption is being perceived, it depends on the issue raised in the media every day.”