Dasuki Only Paid Me N670Million And It Was To Compensate Me - Chairrman Of ThisDay Newspaper, Nduka, Speaks From The US

Confession time, lol. The Chairman and Editor-
in-Chief of Thisday newspaper, Nduka
Obaigbena, has said the immediate past
National Security Adviser (NSA) Sambo Dasuki,
paid him N670 million as compensation for
attacks on his newspaper’s offices in Abuja and
Kaduna in 2012.
He said he also received compensation for the
illegal seizure of newspapers by men of the
armed forces.
Mr. Obaigbena made the disclosure while
responding to an invitation by the Economic and
Financial Commission (EFCC) in connection to
the ongoing probe into the usage of $2.1 billion
arms procurement fund by the office of the NSA
under Mr Dasuki.
Mr Dasuki, alongside some top officials of the
former ruling party, the Peoples Democratic
Party, and other former senior officials are
currently being investigated for the alleged
diversion of the fund.
Mr Obaigbena is the second owner of a
mainstream media organisation, after the
founder of DAAR Communications, owners of
Africa Independent Television and Raypower
radio network, Raymond Dokpesi, who have
been mentioned in the investigation.
Mr Dokpesi, who is still in EFCC custody, is
facing a six-count charge of fraud and money
laundering in a federal High Court in Abuja.
In a letter, dated December 9, 2015, addressed
to the Chairman of the EFCC, Mr Obaigbena
explained that he was in the United States and
would honour the invitation in person as soon as
he returned to the country. He, however, stated
that he thought it necessary to issue a
statement prior to his return.
He denied to have ever received any suspicious
funds from the office of the NSA adding that all
funds he received were ''payment for
compensation to mitigate'' terror attacks on the
head office of his newspaper in Abuja and
another attack on the newspaper’s office in
Kaduna.
''N100,000,000 +N100,000,000 and
N250,000,000 respectively received in August,
November and February 2014 as compensation
to mitigate the dastardly Boko Haram twin
bombing of the Thisday newspapers offices in
Abuja and Kaduna on Thursday April 26, 2012,
during which four innocent Nigerian lives were
lost, our building destroyed and we lost full
colour Goss printing towers and three (3) pre-
press Computer-To-Plate and auxiliary
equipment and other (in)valuable property
valued at over N2.5 billion having lost our
printing facility to terrorists due to inadequate
protection by the Federal Government of
Nigeria.'' He wrote.
Mr Obaigbena added that he was compelled to
make the request after the federal government
spent N3 billion in reconstructing the United
Nations office that was bombed by Boko Haram
in August 2011.
He further wrote that he received additional
N120 million in March 2015 on behalf of the
Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria
(NPAN) and 12 newspapers who asked to be
compensated for the ''unlawful seizure and
stoppage of circulation by armed soldiers in
Abuja and several cities.''
Mr. Obaigbena explained that as the Chairman
of NPAN, he did that to forestall a planned class
action the newspapers were going to institute
against the government.
He explained that on both occasions, former
President Goodluck Jonathan initially refused to
accede to the demands so as not to create a
precedence but later approved the payment after
he (Nduka) confronted him with the effort the
government had undertaken to reconstruct the
UN building.
''On both occasions, President Jonathaan said
he did not wish to lay precedence and in our
case, he specifically said there were many
victims of Boko Haram, I had to confront
President Jonathan on the Issue when I learnt of
the approval for the reconstruction of the Abuja
United Nations Building, since we were the
second major organisation that would be
attacked by Boko Haram after the UN attack. He
therefore directed me to meet with the National
Security Adviser who processed the three
payments in question.''