- The ongoing probe by the President Muhammadu Buhari led administration, has indicted former President Goodluck Jonathan alongside two of his aides over a $6.9 million mobile stages deal.
- The money which was drawn from an offshore account belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for the purpose of procuring a three 40-feet mobile stages for use during mass public speaking events, was eventually not used for the purpose.
- Documents obtained from the presidency showed that the deal was sealed between former President Jonathan, his Petroleum Minister, Dezianni Alison Maduek and his Chief Security Officer, Gordon Obua.
- The purchase was supposedly carried out a few months after Jonathan won a general election for a full term after having completed the term of late President Umaru Yar’adua.
- The document said that investigations by security agencies say this is just one of the tons of allegedly corrupt practices frequently engaged and condoned under the presidency of the immediate past president.
The document also said the sum for the stages were incredibly inflated according to mobile stages industry experts, government investigators say there is no evidence as yet that any stage was purchased at all.
“While the cost of mobile stages range in size and designs, only outlandish rock star musicians in Europe and the US spend hundreds of thousands on their huge stages way bigger than the 40-feet stages. Even then, those musicians and super stars, would not pay over $2m per stage, according to industry sources.
” The process of procurement of the three mobile stages was neither known to extant Nigerian laws and due process regulations, nor were the offices of the Auditor-General and the Accountant-General in the know, according to the investigators” the document read in part