About
12 close aides of former President Goodluck Jonathan have been stripped of
their official passports.
It is yet to be ascertained if the Presidency ordered the
affected officials to surrender the passports or if they did so voluntarily.
The decision to withdraw the official passports of the
former aides of Jonathan was to prevent misuse and conflict with new aides and
officials of President Muhammadu Buhari, who took over power on May 29, 2015, a
competent source told Vanguard.
Another source however, said the retrieval of the
passports was to prevent some of them who have some issues to explain to the
new administration from leaving the country and being given preferential treatment
at their destinations.
“Don’t
forget that some of these officials may be needed here to answer some questions
relating to their tenure,” the source said.
But the NIS has denied there are any ill-motive in
withdrawing the official passports of Jonathan’s former.
The public relations officer of the NIS, Joachim Obua,
explained that it was normal for officials of government to surrender their
official passports at the end of their tenure as it was not their property.
Those whose official passports were retrieved are; former
special adviser to the President on media, Reuben Abati; former Aide-de-Camp,
Col. Ojogbane Adegbe and former Chief Security Officer, Gordon Obua, who is
currently hospitalised over poor health arising from his recent arrest by
security agents.
Nine other key officials of Jonathan’s administration,
who were issued with official passports have also been stripped of the travel
documents.
The affected former aides were said to have already
returned the passports to the Presidential Villa preparatory to being handed
over to the Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS.
Since Jonathan left office two months ago, a number of
his aides have been embarrassed by security agents. Some have being summoned by
the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for questioning.
The Department of State Services (DSS) recently set
Gordon Obua, the former chief security officer to
Nigeria’s immediate past president, Goodluck Jonathan, free in the evening of
Tuesday, July 21.
A former special adviser on Niger Delta Affairs to
ex-President Goodluck Jonathan,Kingsley Kuku, had been
reportedly summoned for questioning by the EFCC.
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