Buhari's top minister, others reportedly indicted in new report

As the presidential committee on defence
equipment procurement in the Nigerian
Armed Forces prepares to present its
findings to President Muhammadu Buhari,
some top army officers are said to have
been hit with fear.

Abdurrahman Bello Dambazau, Nigeria’s
minister of interior allegedly indicted in the
report
Premium Times reports that some of the
indicted army chiefs in the report of the
committee set up to probe arms
procurement between 2007 and 2015 are
seriously working to suppress its content.
The report quoted a reliable source as
saying many senior retired army officers
were indicted in the damning document
expected to be presented to President
Buhari in the coming days.These, according to the report, include

Abdurrahman Bello Dambazau, current
minister of interior; the immediate past chief
of army staff, Kenneth Minimah, and his
predecessor, Azubuike Ihejirika.
Danbazau, appointed the chief of army staff
by late President Umaru Yar’Adua and who
served between 2008 and 2010, is said to be
the one particularly trying to suppress the
report.

Part of the committee finding includes

outright stealing of funds supposedly meant

for equipment for the army.

Those involved were reported to have

inflates contract, diverted money for soldiers’

welfare and for the rehabilitation of barracks

and military facilities.

The report is coming months after a

committee questioned 292 retired and

serving senior military officers.

Premium Times recalled that in January,

Buhari ordered that former chief of air staff,

Adesola Amosu, and other top officers of the

Nigerian Air Force be arrested following their

indictment in an interim report of an inquiry

into the procurement of equipment.

Former national security adviser, Sambo

Dasuki, former chief of defence staff, Alex

Badeh, as well as former chief of air staff,

Mohammed Umar were indicted in the

interim report.

The interim report stated: “The procurement

processes were arbitrarily carried out and

generally characterized by irregularities and

fraud.

“In many cases, the procured items failed to

meet the purposes they were procured for,

especially the counter insurgency efforts in the

North East.

“A major procurement activity undertaken by

ONSA for NAF was that concerning the

contracts awarded to Societe D’ Equipment

Internationaux (SEI) Nig Ltd.

“Between January 2014 and February 2015,

NAF awarded 10 contracts totalling nine

hundred and thirty million, five hundred

thousand, six hundred and ninety US dollars

($930,500,690.00) to SEI Nig Ltd.

“Letters of award and end user certificates for

all the contracts issued by NAF and ONSA

respectively did not reflect the contract sums.

Rather, these were only found in the vendor’s

invoices, all dated 19 March 2015.

“The SEI contracts included procurement of

two used Mi-24V Helicopters instead of the

recommended Mi-35M series at the cost of

one hundred and thirty six million, nine

hundred and forty-four thousand US dollars

($136,944,000.00).

“However, it was confirmed that the

helicopters were excessively priced and not

operationally air worthy at the time of delivery.

A brand new unit of such helicopters goes for

about Thirty Million US Dollars ($30m).

“Additionally, the helicopters were undergoing

upgrade while being deployed for operation in

the North East without proper documentation.

“It was further established that as at date, only

one of the helicopters is in service while the

other crashed and claimed the lives of two

NAF personnel.

“The Committee established that ONSA also

funded the procurement of 4 used Alpha-Jets

for the NAF at the cost of seven million, one

hundred and eighty thousand US dollars

($7,180,000.00).

“However, it was confirmed that only two of

the Alpha-Jet aircraft were ferried to Nigeria

after cannibalization of engines from NAF

fleet.

“This is contrary to the written assertion of the

former Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal AN

Amosu to the former NSA that all the four

procured Alpha-Jets aircraft were delivered to

the NAF.

“The non-militarisation of the Alpha-Jets made

them unsuitable for deployment to the North

East and they are currently deployed only for

training at NAF Kainji.

“Furthermore, the procurement of the Alpha-

Jets was contrary to the recommendation of

the assessment team.

“The committee found that the conduct of Air

Marshal Amosu was deliberately misleading

and unpatriotic.”