Former NSA appears in court over $2bn arms deal fraud

Former National Security Adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki has appeared before an Abuja High Court sitting in Maitama on charges of money laundering.

Also to be arraigned at the court are the former NSA’s alleged accomplices including former Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Aminu Baba Kusa and Director of Finance and Administration in the Office of the NSA,Salisu Shuaibu among others.

Dasuki is at the center of the massive money laundering investigation and is alleged to have supervised the looting of the funds which were meant for the procurement of arms for Nigeria's military.

He was arrested by the Department of State Services (DSS) on December 1, 2015 and handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) the day after.

The former NSA is reported to have implicated several prominent persons in the deal including former governors, ex-ministers and members of the PDP.

Dasuki’s lawyer however denied the report that his client had become an informant while the former NSA said that ex-President, Goodluck Jonathan was aware of the transactions he had made.

Jonathan has however denied authorizing the release of the stated funds despite the former NSA’s claim that he got the necessary presidential approval for the transactions.