Probe Buratai now, Falana, Afenifere tells Buhari

– Groups and prominent Nigerians have call for a
detailed investigation of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.
Gen. Tukur Buratai by the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission (EFCC)

– Falana said it was not the business of the Army to
speak for Buratai on the allegations

Groups and prominent Nigerians have call for a detailed
investigation of the the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen.
Tukur Buratai by the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) over the purchase of $1.5m
properties in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.

Sahara Reporters had reported that the Chief Of Army
Staff and his two wives own $1.5m properties in Dubai.

SERAP’s executive director, Adetokunbo Mumuni, said
for the anti-corruption war to be seen as fair, the anti-
graft agencies must consider whether Buratai could
afford the properties based on his financial records as
a civil servant.

“The bulk stops at the table of the EFCC and the ICPC to
investigate the COAS. Did Buratai and his two wives
acquired the property in Dubai and paid for it in a single
transaction? As a civil servant, how much has he received
in salaries and emoluments? Are these big enough to
acquire the properties? For the anti-corruption war to be
seen as fair and not selective, the anti-graft agencies
must investigate Buratai. It is their duty,” he said.

Also, the national publicity secretary of Afenifere, Yinka
Odumakin, told PUNCH that Buratai should be probed
over the allegation of the Dubai property scandal.

“ The defence the army put up for him is so silly to be
believed outside the barracks. All the earnings of Buratai
since he joined the army, if all were saved, cannot buy a
house in Dubai, let alone two.

“The army also exposed itself as a lying institution when
it said Buratai was never in charge of procurement in
writing. The investigation should make Buratai to let the
country know that he did other businesses to buy the
property in question so that the integrity of the anti-
corruption war can be intact.

“The house could only come legitimately through other
businesses outside his pay. The savings from the salaries
of any army officer in Nigeria cannot buy a house in
Dubai.”

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, slammed
the Nigeria Army for defending Buratai over the Dubai
properties.

Falana said it was not the business of the Army to
speak for Buratai on the allegations.

“Buratai should willingly invite the CCB, the EFCC, the
ICPC to look into the matter. If Buratai was alleged to
have unjustly purchased the houses, he has to come out
to defend himself. He must show how the money used to
purchase the houses was transferred,” he said.

Recall that the Ministry of Defence had dismissed the
controversy generated by an online media report over
the ownership of two properties by Buratai’s family in
Dubai.

The Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan-Ali, said that the
media report was an attempt by some persons to
distract the leadership
of the Armed Forces from the successful prosecution
of the intensified campaign against terrorism in the
North -East.