The
presidential committee investigating arms purchase to prosecute the
counter-insurgency war in the North-East has been given November 30 deadline to
submit its
report.
There are
fears that the deadline came as a shock to members. Reason: The committee has
uncovered a N2.175 billion fraud in one of the agencies of the Ministry of
Defence.
The money,
meant for arms procurement, was allegedly diverted. Members believed the
deadline, may have been engineered by powerful forces who were indicted in the
alleged fraud. The committee which was set up last year, had submitted three
reports. Implementation of the report had led to the prosecution of the former
Chief of Defence Staff, Lt. Gen. Alex Badeh (retd).
Similarly,
some other top officers are currently being detained for their roles in the
illegal diversion of funds meant for military operations.
In its third
report submitted in July this year, the committee made up of very senior
retired and serving military officers, and headed by Air Vice Marshal J.O.N. Ode,
indicted former Chiefs of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika (retd) and
Kenneth Minimah (retd), top military officers and civilians.
Sources told
Daily Sun that the committee during its investigation on the Ministry of
Defence had uncovered a whopping N2.175 billion fraud traced to one of the
agencies under the ministry for a specific project.
However,
rather than embark on the said project, the money was diverted. The committee
discovered that the money meant for the project was paid in instalments to some
corporate bodies and Bureaux De Change.
Daily Sun
authoritatively gathered that the said money was part of the N35 billion the
ministry took as loan from the Debt Management Office (DMO) to purchase
equipment for troops on international peace-keeping mission with the aim of
getting reimbursements from the United Nations.
The committee
since its inauguration on August 31, 2015, is said to have so far submitted
four interim reports to the Presidency.
Daily Sun
gathered that some past defence ministers, permanent secretaries and directors
of finance in the ministry have been indicted in the said missing money and
recommended for probe and further investigation by the relevant government
agencies to get to the root of the matter.
Trouble was
said to have started for the committee when a member of the House of
Representatives accused the Committee on Audit of Defence Equipment Procurement
in the Nigerian Armed Forces (CADEP) of deliberately delaying the report of its
committee after over one year of its inauguration.
The committee
was accused of being biased and indicted those perceived to be enemies of the
present administration as culprits in the illegal purchase of arms and
ammunition for the military.
On its
investigation on the Nigerian Navy which Daily Sun gathered is ongoing, the
committee has already sent out investigations to some past Chiefs of Naval
Staff, Chiefs of Budgets and Accounts, Chiefs of Training and Operations,
Chiefs of Policy and Plans, Directors of Procurement to appear before it.
Although Daily
Sun could not ascertain if the committee would be able to conclude its
investigation before the November 30 deadline, sources say it will be unfair
for the other services where the committee spent months conducting their
investigations and openly disgraced them.
To do a
through job, it was gathered that the committee needs between two and three
months.
Aready, some
serving and retired military personnel are
accusing the committee members of being biased in their investigation
and doing the bidding of government.
The committee
probing arms procurement for the Navy began sittings last week. But there was
anxiety that the committee may not do a thorough job as was done for the Army,
Air Force and the Defence Ministry.
Aside the
deadline, the committee has also been barred from requesting for documents and
other materials from the agencies under probe.
The deadline
will definitely hamper CADEP from effectively carrying out its work, because it
has always depended on the documents provided by the organisations, ministries,
parastatals and agencies under probe.
There are
indications that all may not be well between the committee and the Federal
Government after it submitted its fourth interim report indicting persons
perceived to be untouchable, about four weeks ago.
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