The former chief of defence staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, has refuted claims by the Economic and Financial Crimes commission (EFCC) that he diverted funds from the accounts of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) and used it to purchase property in Abuja.
In a statement yesterday, he described the claims that he received the sum of $800,000 from the NAF as untrue.
He added that the office of the CDS had no operational control of the services and had nothing to do with their spending.
‘‘I was Chief of Air staff from Oct 2012 to January 2014 and then appointed CDS. During my time serving as the CDS, funds for weapons were directly released to the Chief of Air staff, Army Staff and Naval Staff and not to me. I had no control over the funds and yet, I am being accused of embezzling weapons funds.
‘’It has been widely reported in the news that I am being investigated over the $2.1bn arms deal but that is not true. I was not part of Dasukigate,’’ he stressed.
The former chief of defence staff said that even, when the commission claimed that billions of naira was found in the accounts of wives of some past air force officers, none was traceable to his family, yet, ‘the commission kept generalizing the case and making it look as if my family was involved.’
He stated that he reported to the EFCC when he was invited and would report anytime his attention is needed, saying that all he sought was to be given fair hearing and adherience strictly to the rule of law.
Badeh said it was rather unfortunate that the nation which he fought so hard within his means to defend against Boko Haram insurgents cannot guarantee his fundamental human rights.
According to him, ‘‘I was detained by the EFCC for three weeks and was not charged to court but was given onerous bail conditions by the commission which I could not meet.
‘‘ A remand warrant was hastily obtained on the 25th February in Lagos as soon as the EFCC was served with a notice for my bail by my lawyer.
‘‘Why detain me for so long and issue such onerous bail conditions when they are not ready to charge me to court?’’
He added that during the 2014 Boko Haram attack in his village Vimtim, it was widely reported in the media that he sent a helicopter to evacuate his parents and relatives.
‘‘Which parents? I am an orphan. I lost my father in the 70’s and my mother in 2013. My cousin, who lived next to me, was killed during the 2014 attack on my village. So who exactly did I evacuate? It is unfortunate that I didn’t come out to clarify some of these issues when they were reported in the media”, he said inter alia.
