The ex-president made the claim amid allegations that some key officials of his administration diverted over $2.1 billion meant for the purchase of arms and munition to combat the insurgency in the North-east and other forms of insecurity in the country.
Insisting that he laid a solid foundation for terrorism to be defeated, Jonathan expressed hope that very soon, incumbent government would end insurgency.
Jonathan, who spoke in an interview with France 24, admitted that the insurgency caught the country unawares but that his government laid a solid foundation for the war against terrorism to be fought to a logical conclusion.
“The new government is working hard and I believe they are still using the equipment we procured”, the former president said.
He added that “Though the [2016] budget is still being debated, no new equipment has been bought, so even those equipment the president is using to prosecute the war against Boko Haram are those equipment we procured….”
“When Boko Haram started in Nigeria, we had no terror experience. Yes, we had armed robbery and other common crimes, but terrorism was different because the people involved were not afraid to die. So, you need a different mechanism to confront terrorism, you need superior technology to be able to stop them even before the attack. We never had the equipment, but when we were confronted, we started acquiring and before I left office we built reasonable capacity and I believe with what we left behind and also with what the new government will acquire, they will be able to prosecute this terror war to a reasonable conclusion”, Mr. Jonathan emphasized.
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