Posted on: 11:23 Fri, 08 Jul 2016



There is tension and frantic scheming
among former army chiefs and other
top officers of the Nigerian Army as
the Presidential Committee on Defence
Equipment Procurement in the
Nigerian Armed Forces has concluded
its task and is set to submit its report
to President Muhammadu Buhari in
the coming days, online platform
Premium Times, has learned.

A reliable source close to the
committee, which was set up by
President Buhari to probe the
procurement of arms, ammunition
and equipment in the military from
2007 to 2015, said that that several
top retired army officers were
indicted, with some already
scheming to suppress the content of
the report.

“The committee members are
putting things together and will
present their findings to the
President next week or so,” a
source said.

The source explained that the
committee uncovered a lot of
things, including the outright
stealing of money meant for
equipment for the army, inflation
of contract, diversion of money for
soldiers’ welfare, money for the
rehabilitation of barracks and
military facilities and many other
corrupt practices.

In March 2016, the committee,
predominantly made up of retired
military officers, had summoned
292 retired and serving top army
officers.

Last August, President Buhari
directed the National Security
Adviser, Mohammed Mongonu, to
set up a 13-member investigative
committee on the procurement of
hardware and munitions in the
Armed Forces from 2007.

A statement by the Special Adviser
to the President on Media and
Publicity, Femi Adesina, stated that
the investigative committee’s
mandate was to identify
irregularities and make
recommendations for streamlining
the procurement process in the
armed forces.