5:21:00 pm
Lagos lawyer Femi Falana hasdismissed reports that he said theadministration
of President Muhammadu Buhari is far worse than the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Falana said he was quoted out of context when delivering a lecture at the 2016 Convocation Lecture of Oduduwa University at Ipetumodu, Osun State on November 18, 2016. "In the said lecture I had cause to advise the Muhammadu Buhari administration not to further plunge the nation into
debt by taking a fresh loan of $29.6 billion. In opposing the proposed loan I urged the federal government to muster the political will to recover the several billions of dollars withheld from the Federation Account or criminally diverted by the parasitic ruling class that has mismanaged the economy of Nigeria since 1999.
My views on the proposed loan were well reported by credible print and electronic media. However, out of sheer mischief and cheap blackmail, some dubious fellows twisted my views and reported that
"Falana says Buhari is worse than Jonathan". Since the image launderers of the ancien regime have a short memory, I am compelled to advise them to google "Falana asks the national assembly to reject Jonathan's request for $7.9 bn".
In my letter of November 10, 2012, I had urged the national assembly members to advise President Jonathan to jettison the loan option and recover " the billions of dollars which the Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation and some oil companies have refused to remit to the Federation Account".
But the national assembly approved the request for the loan. "A year later, I pleaded again with the
federal legislators to reject the request for another loan of $1 bn for procurement of arms and ammunition for counter-insurgency operations.
On that occasion, i asked the legislators to demand an account of the over N3
trillion appropriated for the nation's defence from 2010-2013. Once again, the loan request was approved by the national assembly. "In the course of defending 58 out of the 70 soldiers who were charged with mutiny for legitimately demanding for weapons to fight the well-equipped Boko Haram terrorists, I confirmed that the $1 billion loan had been diverted. In fact, one of the reasons why the trial was held in camera was that our defence was anchored on the criminal diversion of the huge fund".
of President Muhammadu Buhari is far worse than the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
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| Falana |
debt by taking a fresh loan of $29.6 billion. In opposing the proposed loan I urged the federal government to muster the political will to recover the several billions of dollars withheld from the Federation Account or criminally diverted by the parasitic ruling class that has mismanaged the economy of Nigeria since 1999.
My views on the proposed loan were well reported by credible print and electronic media. However, out of sheer mischief and cheap blackmail, some dubious fellows twisted my views and reported that
"Falana says Buhari is worse than Jonathan". Since the image launderers of the ancien regime have a short memory, I am compelled to advise them to google "Falana asks the national assembly to reject Jonathan's request for $7.9 bn".
In my letter of November 10, 2012, I had urged the national assembly members to advise President Jonathan to jettison the loan option and recover " the billions of dollars which the Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation and some oil companies have refused to remit to the Federation Account".
But the national assembly approved the request for the loan. "A year later, I pleaded again with the
federal legislators to reject the request for another loan of $1 bn for procurement of arms and ammunition for counter-insurgency operations.
On that occasion, i asked the legislators to demand an account of the over N3
trillion appropriated for the nation's defence from 2010-2013. Once again, the loan request was approved by the national assembly. "In the course of defending 58 out of the 70 soldiers who were charged with mutiny for legitimately demanding for weapons to fight the well-equipped Boko Haram terrorists, I confirmed that the $1 billion loan had been diverted. In fact, one of the reasons why the trial was held in camera was that our defence was anchored on the criminal diversion of the huge fund".
