$1bn Boko Haram funds: Buhari doing what he accused Jonathan govt of – Ozekhome, Uwazuruike

Following its decision to borrow $1 billion to fight insurgency in the North East, two prominent lawyers and Human rights activists, Chiefs Mike Ozokhome and Goddy Uwazuruike have lashed out at the government of All Progressives Congress, APC led by President Muhammadu Buhari, accusing it of hypocrisy.


It would be recalled that the money approved by the National Economic Council, NEC, last week would be sourced from the Excess Crude Account, ECA.

Speaking to Vanguard on Sunday, the lawyers said that the APC government was sinking back to its vomit, doing what it accused the government of former President Goodluck Jonathan of.

For Ozekhome, the funds would be a strategic release to bankroll the re-election bid of President Buhari in 2019.

He added that NEC has no powers to make financial approvals for the government, stressing that such mandate resided with the National Assembly.

He said: “No, it has no constitutional power to do so. Only the National Assembly can appropriate funds to be used,even contingency funds. Anything done extra-constitutionally amounts to misappropriation. NEC is not a budget approving body. It’s duty is to as approve projects for execution, but the budget for doing so remains the sole prerogative of the National Assembly.

“This government is opaque.It thrives on propaganda. It told us as far back as December, 2015,it had “technically defeated” Boko haram after “downgrading” it. There are two scenarios here. Either the government.