I was misquoted by media on arms procurement funds – NSA

The National Security Adviser, Major Gen. Babagana Monguno (retd), on Friday clarified the statement credited to him on the allegedly missing arms procurement funds under the immediate past service chiefs.

The NSA had reportedly told the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) that funds meant for the purchase of arms to fight the Boko Haram insurgents and bandits in the Northern part of the country was declared missing under the quartet of Lt. Gen Abayomi Olonisakin (Chief of Defence Staff); Lt. Gen Tukur Buratai (Chief of Army Staff); Vice Admiral Ibok Ekwe Ibas (Chief of Navy Staff); and Air Marshall Sadique Abubakar (Chief of Air Staff).

But in a statement issued in Abuja, Monguno said he was quoted out of context by some sections of the media in his interview with the BBC.

He said: “We would like to state that the NSA was quoted out of context as he did not categorically say that funds meant for arms procurement were missing under the former Service Chiefs as reported or transcribed by some media outlets from the BBC interview.

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“During the interview, the National Security Adviser only reiterated the Federal Government’s commitment to deal decisively with insecurity and stated President Muhammadu Buhari’s continued commitment to providing all necessary support to the Armed Forces, including the provision of arms and equipment.”

The NSA said he only told the BBC that President Buhari has provided enormous resources for arms procurement, but the orders were either inadequate or yet to be delivered by the appropriate channels.

The statement, according to him, did not imply that the funds were misappropriated under the former service chiefs.

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