Buhari okays probe of Minimah, Ihejirika over arms procurement deals

Two former Chiefs of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika and Lt. Gen. Kenneth Minimah and 54 others may soon be guests of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, as President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered their probe over arms procurement.

This is after receiving the third interim report of the Presidential Committee on the Audit of Defence Equipment in Armed Forces.

Iherijirika and Minimah are to be probed over the roles they played in the procurement of arms, with billions of dollars believed to have been diverted into private pockets.

This was disclosed in a statement in Abuja on Thursday by the Chairman of the committee, AVM Jon Ode (retd.).

According to Ode, President Buhari made the order after approving the recommendation of the committee.

The committee was saddled with the task of investigating the defence equipment procurement from 2007 to 2015. The committee reportedly found irregularities in the award of contracts for the procurement of arms for the military.

Others slated for investigation are 18 serving and retired military personnel, 12 serving and retired public officials and 24 Chief Executive Officers of companies involved in the procurement.

The committee, in its report, said a total of N185, 843,052,564.30 and another $685,349,692.49 was spent on procurement and operations during the period, adding that the Ministry of Defence awarded contracts for the Nigerian Army without its inputs and that the contractors also lacked technical competence.

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The report reads in part: “As an example, three contracts with a total value of N5,940,000,000.00 were awarded to DYI Global Services Ltd. and Doiyatec Comms Nigeria Limited (owned by the same individuals) for the procurement of military hardware including 20 units of KM-38 Twin Hull Boats and six units of 4X4 Ambulances fitted with radios.

“The committee found that the two companies collected N5,103,500,000.00, representing 86 per cent of the total value of the three contracts worth N5,940,000,000.00, but only performed to the tune of N2,992,183,705.31.

‘’In this regard, a review of the procurement carried out by Chok Ventures Ltd. and Integrated Equipment Services Ltd. established that between March 2011 and December 2013, the two companies exclusively procured various types of Toyota and Mitsubishi vehicles worth over N3bn for the Nigerian Army without any competitive bidding.

‘’Though the committee found no credible evidence of delivery of the vehicles, the vendors were fully paid based on job completion certificate authenticated by the then Chief of Logistics. Also, the analysis of the various bank accounts of the two companies showed transfers to individuals related to then Chief of Army Staff.”

“The committee also found that a contract worth N169, 916,849.77 for the procurement of 53 Armoured Vehicles Spare Parts, with 90 days completion time, had yet to be completed five years after”.

By Timothy Enietan-Matthews …

 

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