I couldn’t have taken money from Jonathan’s discredited government – Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has said the two Sports Utility Vehicles given to him during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan were his entitlements as a former Head of State.

Buhari, in a statement signed by his spokesman, Femi Adesina, on Tuesday, said the Land Cruiser Jeeps, given to him after the attack on his convoy by Boko Haram terrorists in Kaduna State last year, fell under his due as a former Head of State.

He, however, said contrary to media reports, he never received cash of $300,000 from the Jonathan Presidency, adding that he could not have taken money from a discredited government.

Jonathan’s former National Security Adviser, retired Colonel Sambo Dasuki, had been quoted in a statement to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission that he gave $300,000 to Buhari along with two SUVs.

Dasuki said this when he was giving account of how he disbursed monies he was said to have fraudulently collected during his reign in office.

Adesina had before the statement was issued on Tuesday told The Eagle Online that the President indeed received an armoured Land Cruiser and another ordinary one from Jonathan’s government.

He said further in the statement he issued on Tuesday: “Our attention has been drawn to reports making the rounds, especially  on internet-based media, that President Muhammadu Buhari received $300,000.00 and up to five armoured SUVs from the Office of the National Security Adviser in the aftermath of the attack on his convoy in Kaduna last year.

“We unequivocally deny that President  Buhari received $300,000.00 or any monetary compensation whatsoever from the Jonathan Presidency or any of its officials, in the aftermath of that attack, or at any other time since then.

“While it is true that one armoured SUV and one untreated SUV were sent to the President in the aftermath of the attack, the vehicles were in keeping with his entitlements as a former Head of State under the Remuneration of Former Presidents and Heads of State (And other Ancillary Matters) Decree of 1999.

“Section 3, Sub Section 1 of that Decree provides that three vehicles will be provided for former heads of state and replaced every four years.

“There was therefore nothing untoward, illegal or tending to corruption in former Head of State Buhari and Presidential aspirant, as he then was, receiving vehicles, to  which he was statutorily entitled , from the Federal Government of Nigeria.

“President Buhari had in keeping with his austere, spartan and frugal disposition  shunned most of his entitlements as a former Head of State, but was prevailed upon by his supporters to accept the two vehicles for his personal safety in the aftermath of the dastardly attempt to assassinate him.

“It is preposterous to think that the President will allow his acclaimed reputation of honesty and incorruptibility to be tarnished by accepting a questionable monetary compensation from a discredited regime.”