Tucano Jets: Buhari Media, Saraki in war of words over impeachment plot

The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has accused former Senate President Bukola Saraki of rewriting history in a bid to claim credit for the United States of America’s deal with Nigeria on the purchase of the Super Tucano light-attack aircraft for the ongoing war against insurgency.
This is in the aftermath of suggestions by the opposition figure that the $593m deal might not have scaled through without his intervention as the then head of the 8th Senate.

BMO said in a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke that facts on ground showed that former US President Donald Trump had given his approval to the deal within one month of assuming office in 2017.
“It has come to our notice that former Senate President and presidential aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Bukola Saraki had been giving the impression that an intervention he spearheaded paved way for the sale of the  aircraft to Nigeria.

“While we understand that he needed to make himself look good at a time he is seeking his party’s Presidential ticket, we make bold to say that the claim is far from the truth.

“A timeline of the interaction that led to the deal showed that then President Donald Trump had, within one month in office, assured President Muhammadu Buhari, during a phone call in February 2017, of his readiness to support Nigeria’s plan to procure the counter-insurgency aircraft.

“By April, there were reports in the international media that the US Congress would be notified of the sale in the coming weeks. 

“So it was not surprising that the Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified the US Congress on 2nd August 2017, indicating who the contractors are and how the proposed sale would not have an adverse impact on US defence readiness”, the statement added. 

The group noted that the Senate under the watch of Senator Saraki actually threatened to impeach President Buhari for making that move.
“It all began on August 25 when President Buhari notified the Senate in writing that he had granted anticipatory approval for the release of $496,374,470 from the Excess Crude Account (ECA) directly to the Treasury of the US Government for the purchase of the 12 aircraft.
“The Presidency and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) had explained it, in line with the principle of doctrine of necessity, and cited how previous administrations had taken similar steps, but the  Saraki-led Senate threatened to impeach the President for making what it called an extra budgetary spending.

“The impeachment threat was made through a motion by Chairman Senate Committee on Public Account, Senator Mathew Urhogide, but was countered by APC Senators led by Senator Abu Ibrahim who insisted that since the establishment of the ECA, no government had ever sent a formal request to the National Assembly for approval for appropriation of funds.
“It was not until about four months after the deal was sealed, that the Senate leadership showed any form of support and that was when a US congressional delegation came into the country.
“So it beggars belief that Saraki could seek to claim credit for the purchase of counter-insurgency aircraft that he tried to block on the grounds of extra-budgetary approval.”

The group added that the PDP Presidential aspirant should look for something else other than the Tucano jets to convince his party members to give him their support.

Saraki reacts, says BMO’s revisionist antics depict it as empty propaganda machine

The Abubakar Bukola Saraki Media Office has described the statement issued earlier today by the Buhari Media Office (BMO) to downplay the role the Saraki-led Eighth National Assembly played in getting the United States to agree to sell military equipment to Nigeria for the fight against Boko Haram insurgency in 2017 as “ a mere revisionist antic which depicts the group as an empty propaganda machine whose members lacks substance and simple understanding of the American system”.

While reacting to a statement titled ‘Tucano Jets: Saraki Lied, Actually Wanted to Impeach Buhari on the Purchase’ issued by BMO, the Abubakar Bukola Saraki Media Office stated that the Buhari propaganda machine only demonstrated ignorance in all its claims and showed that the members, particularly the duo of Niyi Akinsiju and Cassidy Madueke, who signed the statement either have no respect for facts or very limited in their understanding of public policy.

The Abubakar Bukola Saraki Media Office in a statement signed by Yusuph Olaniyonu explained that the US refused to sell military equipment to Nigeria because the country was then categorized as one of those nations whose military engaged in violation of the rights of the citizens and therefore were in constant violation of the Leahy’s law.

Section 362 of Title 10 of the US Code otherwise called Leahy’s law prevents the US from providing equipment, training, and other assistance to a foreign security force if the Secretary of Defence has credible information that such unit has committed a Government Violation of Human Rights (GVHR).

“Thus, whatever discussion the US President Donald Trump was said to have had with his Nigerian counterpart, the US policy was not about to change except the Congress agreed to such change. Most important, the US would not change such an important policy without the guarantee from the beneficiary country’s legislature.

“If we go by the skewed timelines of the events that led to the conclusion of the transaction for the purchase of the Tucano Jets as given by the BMO the lies of this propaganda machine will even be more glaring. In their statement, the BMO claimed that Trump in a telephone conversation in February 2017 promised President Buhari that the US would sell the jets to Nigeria and that by April of the same year, international media reported that the US Congress would be notified while the notice eventually was given to the American Legislature in August. Buhari wrote to the Nigerian Senate on August 25, 2017.

“The BMO did not do enough research to find out that as far back as April 12, 2017, Saraki had held a closed-door meeting with then US ambassador to Nigeria, Stuart Symington where the sale of the Tucano Jets was the main issue for discussion. The US wanted to know if the National Assembly was in support of the sales. We refer BMO, Akinsiju, Madueke, and their ilks to a Vanguard newspaper report published on April 13, 2017, titled “Saraki, US ambassador meet over the sale of attack planes to Nigeria”.

“Also, on August 28, 2017, three days after Buhari notified the Nigerian Senate of the proposed sale of the Tucano Jets and three weeks after the Trump government briefed the American legislature about it, Saraki again received in the audience an 8-man US Congressional delegation headed by Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware in the National Assembly. The main issue for discussion was the sale of the Tucano Jets and the setting aside of the restriction imposed on Nigeria under the Leahy Law.

“Unlike Nigeria, particularly under the current government, where the legislature is treated with contempt, the Americans would not have set aside the restriction on the sale of military equipment imposed under an extant law without a guarantee from the Congress. At every point when it was needed, the Senate under Saraki gave support to the transaction and guaranteed to the visiting Congressmen that it would intensify oversight over the military to ensure there was no repeat of violation of citizens’ rights. We urge the public to also read the statement issued by Saraki on December 29, 2017, as published by Daily Post titled “Boko Haram: Saraki lauds US government for fighter jets.

“That particular statement had concluded that ‘Saraki urged the Buhari administration to move speedily to conclude all the formalities and make payment in respect of the 12 A29 Super Tucano Aircraft so that the nation’s military could be stronger in confronting insurgents and give confidence to the fighting soldiers’

“On the claims that there was an impeachment attempt on Buhari for granting anticipatory approval for the payment of $496,374,470 without legislative approval or any budgetary provision, there is no doubt that the act was a grave violation of the law and that no responsible legislature would ignore that infraction. Yet, contrary to the claims by the revisionists in BMO, the point of order raised by Sen. Mathew Urhoghide to discuss the infraction was not allowed for discussion by the same Saraki in other to save the President any embarrassment. We refer members of the public to the Punch newspaper story on the Senator session published on April 25, 2018, with the headline “Senators fault Buhari’s $496 Tucano aircraft purchase without due process”.

“We, therefore, advise the BMO and other propaganda groups working for the present government to always undertake the necessary research and make the needed checks before dishing out falsehood and making claims that are contrary to the facts. Such acts do a disservice to the administration rather than fulfill the responsibility for which the groups were created”, Saraki’s Media Office stated.