Former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki has said he dismissed pressure to abscond after he was implicated in a $2.1 billion arms procurement deals.
Dasuki made the disclosure in a book, An encounter with the Spymaster, written by Mallam Yushau Shuaib, the coordinator of PRNigeria, a military covert counter-insurgency media outfit.
Dasuki said he rebuffed the pressure because he did not want to be a fugitive again.
The ex-NSA said: “I can never be a fugitive after past Abacha’s attempt on my life in the 1990s. I will remain in Nigeria and face any consequences.”
He also denied being one of the military officers who arrested President Muhammadu Buhari in August 1985 when Buhari was removed as military head of state.
Giving fresh insight into why the 2015 general election was postponed, the book stated: “It should be stated here that during the critical period of the war on terror, the Western powers deliberately refused to sell the required weapons and armaments to Nigeria to prosecute the war on flimsy excuses of human rights abuses.
“When they embargoed the supply, the then government had to resort to Eastern Block for required arms and ammunition.
“Though the arrival of the equipment was late, which necessitated the postponement of the 2015 election, the subsequent operations were successful.”
Asked why he participated in the coup d’état against Buhari in 1985, less than two years after the coup that brough him in, Dasuki said: “Gen. Buhari should know whom he should blame.”
But he denied being among the officers that arrested Buhari as a military Head of State in the August 1985 putsch.
He added: “I always respect and dignify my seniors and those in positions of authority, whether in service or after.
“Though a young officer, I was reluctant to be among those that arrested him (Buhari). And I was not. I only met him afterwards at Bonny Camp with Lawal Rafindadi.
“There is no way I could have maltreated him as being alleged in some quarters. I am glad most of the actors are still alive.”
