Nigeria’s Ambassador to the Republic of Benin, Lt-Gen. Tukur Buratai (rtd), has denied either stealing billions of naira while in office as Chief of Army Staff (COAS) or converting properties meant for the Nigerian army to personal use.
His Private Counsel, Osuagwu Ugochukwu, in a statement in Abuja, on Friday, claimed that the Code of conduct Bureau (CCB) had investigated and cleared the former army chief.
According to Buratai, revelations by the Cooperate Affairs Commission (CAC) clearly depicted him as neither a director nor a shareholder in the Nigeria Army Property Limited, describing the claims by some sections of the media as false.
The statement reads: “Your publication is nothing but a rehash of a rested subject matter, Dubai Properties. The subject matter, which you hastily tried to re-post to the public, has since over six years been put to rest by the federal authorities.
“The CCB, having investigated the matter, cleared Buratai of any wrongdoing and found him not guilty. So, for you to now recklessly bring forth the same matter to the public domain is an attempt to tarnish the image of the retired army chief and you must be made to account for your indiscretion within the ambit of the law.
“Finally, your attempt to bring up the issue of the existence of Nigerian Army Properties Limited (NAPL) with the CAC registration of Rtd Lt-Gen T.Y. Buratai as one of the directors and thus paint a picture of illegality is rather childish. For your information, the existence of NAPL is lawful and having the name of the retired army chief on board is legal.”
There are other similar CAC registered entities of the Nigerian army with such private incorporated status. These are Nigerian Army Post Exchange (NAPEX), Nigerian Army Small Scale Drug Manufacturing Unit (NASDMU), Nigerian Army Welfare Insurance Scheme (NAWIS), Post Service Housing Development (PHD) and Post-Service Homes Savings and Loans (PHL).”
The statement urged the publisher of the story in question to “retract those defamatory publications.”
