Army high command says Buratai bought his two Dubai houses with legitimate money

NIGERIAN Army bosses have spring to the defence of chief of army staff Lt General Tukur Buratai over his ownership of two houses in Dubai pointing out that there was nothing illegal or secret about the properties and listed them in his assets declaration form.

 

Yesterday, it was revealed that General Buratai owned two houses in Dubai, which raised questions about his suitability for the job at a time when the government is clamping down on corruption. However, according to the Nigerian Army high command, General Buratai bought his houses legally with his own money earned through legitimate means.

 

Nigerian Army spokesman Colonel Sani Usman, said that contrary to the report, General Buratai never served as the army’s director of procurement and does not have any account in Skye Bank. Already, a petition has been sent to the presidency highlighting what is seen as impropriety on the part of General Buratai.

 

Col Usman, said: “The attention of the Nigerian Army has been drawn to another round of campaign of calumny against the chief of army staff, Lt General Tukur Yusufu Buratai and his family by some unscrupulous elements as contained in an online medium story titled Revealed: Buhari’s Chief Of Army Staff, General Buratai, wives own Dubai property, alleging that chief of army staff and his two wives are joint owners of a Dubai property that was paid for in one transaction posted on the website, this evening. It is important to know that these baseless allegations were not new.

 

“Therefore, the latest round of smear campaign by the online medium is one of the series of campaigns of calumny by these faceless individuals to malign the chief of army staff and the Nigerian Army. The allegations contained in the write up are baseless and not correct, although it is a fact that the Buratai family has two properties in Dubai that were paid in instalments through personal savings three years ago."

 

According to Col Usman, the houses, along with other personal assets, have been consistently declared by General Buratai in his assets declaration form when he was appointed as both as commander of the Multinational Joint Task Force Commander and as chief of army staff. He added that General Buratai does not have any account with Skye Bank as alleged.

 

“Similarly, he has not been involved in any form of shady or dishonest transaction, not to talk of contract scam. In addition, General Buratai was never near either defence headquarters or army headquarters in 2013 and it is pertinent to also note that he was never a director of procurement in army headquarters as alleged.

 

“As a matter of fact, the Nigerian Army never had a directorate of procurement till when he established one last year when he became chief of army staff. In a bid to rubbish the hard- earned reputation and good name of the chief of army staff, these blackmailers will stop at nothing hence all these kinds of mudslinging," Col Usman added.