Nigeria: CDD raises alarm over planned arrest of Jonathan

A civil society group in Nigeria, Committee for the Defence of Democracy (CDD) has raised alarm over an alleged plan to arrest former President Goodluck Jonathan.

CDD said federal government intends to arrest the former president over allegations surrounding the purported $2.1 million arms deal.

CDD Publicity Secretary, Comrade Akindele Lawson described the latest move by President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration as unacceptable.

He called on President Buhari to stop blaming his predecessor Goodluck Jonathan for Nigeria’s current predicaments. Lawson urged the government to focus on delivering dividends of democracy to Nigerians as promised during the electioneering campaigns.

The group reiterated that if the president continues to focus on the past, there will be danger ahead as there may be no indication of change.

Speaking on the arms probe by President Buhari’s government, CDD stressed that it was wrong for anybody to claim that ammunition and military hardware were not bought for the Nigerian Armed Forces during President Jonathan administration.

The group asserted that the current probe is nothing like the probe of the campaign funding of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, which is just being sensationalized by the All Progressive Congress (APC) government.

“It is on record that despite the difficulties that the Jonathan administration faced in procuring arms from some western nations over alleged human rights issues, he still managed to source sizable quantities of platforms, weapons, bullets and other ammunition for the Nigerian Army, Navy and Air Force, which were used to tackle insurgency to a near end before the end of his administration.”

The group challenged President Buhari’s administration to deny the fact that the Nigerian military is still using the arms and ammunition procured by Jonathan’s administration to fight in the trouble areas, insisting that Buhari’s government has not bought any new arms till date.