By Emma Amaize

Committee  for the Vulnerable and Underprivileged, CENTREP, Warri, Delta State, yesterday, urged Nigerians to remain vigilant and reject any attempt to sweep the transporting of a colossal sum of 9.3 million dollars in a chartered private jet to South Africa under the carpet.

Executive director of the group, Mr. Oghenejabor Ikimi, in a statement, said, “We vehemently condemn the ferrying of a colossal sum of 9.3 million dollars in a chartered private Jet to South Africa, under the pretext of using the said funds for the purchase of arms.”

“We make bold to state that Nigerians strongly believe the aforesaid money which was not declared by the Federal Government was one of those numerous monies stolen from our national treasury, and being ferried illegally into private foreign accounts reminiscent of the General Sani Abacha era,” he said.

Ikimi , therefore, urged the South African authorities to treat the said money as stolen funds until the contrary is proved.

“If we may ask, does the above act of the Presidency exemplify a cashless society policy it preaches back home? Our answer is definitely in the negative,” he said.

CENTREP also urged the South African authorities to probe the said funds, saying, “Nigerians do not have any iota of confidence in any probe by the National Assembly afte rthe allegation by Representative Aliyu Madaki from Kano State on the floor of the Nigerian House of Representatives that the sum of 50,000 dollars bribe was offered each of the People’s Democratic Party lawmakers in the House to kill the motion to probe the 9.3 million dollars seized by the South African authorities.”