Saraki Refutes Rejecting Buhari’s $1bn Request for Arms Purchase

Former President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki, has denied a claim that the 8th Senate he led rejected request of $1 billion from President Muhammadu Buhari to purchase arms to fight insecurity in the country.

He said they merely insisted that the Executive follow due process provided by the nation’s Constitution. This is contained in a statement issued yesterday by Oluwole Onemola, a media aide to the immediate past President of the Senate.

The statement titled ‘MURIC Lied: 8th Senate Aided, Not Hindered President Buhari’s Fight Against Insecurity’, described the claim allegedly made “by one Prof. Ishaq Akintola,” as “unenlightened propaganda piece disguised as a ‘press statement,’ which was published on Thursday, April 8th,” and that the claim of the professor, who acted “under the one-man operation group known as MURIC, is factually and constitutionally incorrect.”

Akintola’s statement, the former Senate president’s aide said “intentionally attempts to re-write history by falsely suggesting that the Saraki-led 8th Senate “rejected the President’s request for $1billion for the purchase of arms. However, the truth is that the 8th Senate never rejected any fund request for security but only insisted that the due process provided by the Constitution of the Federal Republic should be adhered to even by the Executive branch.”

He recalled details of what transpired at the time, stating that it was important to do so “to enlighten the public about the facts, and once again put it on record for posterity’s sake.

“On Wednesday, the 25th of April 2018, the then-President of the Senate, Sen. Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, read a letter from President Muhammadu Buhari, which stated that he had granted ‘anticipatory approval’ for the release of $496,374,470. These funds were said to have been paid directly to the Treasury of the United States (U.S.) government.