Pesidential Arms Audit Panel Nigeria A 13- man Presidential arms purchase audit Panel set up by President Muhammadu Buhari to audit arms purchased between 2007 and 2015 has submitted its temporary report, confirming arm purchase within the period under review.
Presidential Arms Audit Panel Nigeria A presidency source told TheFocus that President Buhari set up and inaugurated the panel to conduct preliminary investigations after it was discovered the the immediate past National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd) diverted N13.2 billion of fund meant for procurement of arms for the Nigeria Military.
The panel, made up of distinguished Nigerians toured military formations across the country to undertaking physical verification of military hardware and equipment either bought or claimed to have been bought during the period under review.
Our source said the interim report of the audit Panel showed that the administration of former president Goodluck Jonathan purchased arms and equipment for the military , which were distributed to various military formations across the country particularly the North east geo-political zone for counter insurgency operations.
The panel however discovered absence of contract agreements, award of contracts beyond authorised thresholds, transfer of public funds for unidentified purposes and general non-adherence to provisions of the Public Procurement Act.
According to the arms probe panel, The award letters for the equipment and arms purchase contracts contained misleading delivery dates, suggesting fraudulent intent.
The Presidential Arms Audit Panel Nigeria also revealed that the procurement processes were arbitrarily carried out and generally characterised by irregularities and fraud
The past National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki who supervised the arms and equipment purchase is being tried over alleged diversion of the fund meant for procurement of arms. Dasuki was alleged to have transferred huge sums of money to companies whose identities were still being traced.
Upon receipt of the panel’s interim report and the recommendations, President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to further investigate the immediate past Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh (rtd), former Chiefs of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal MD Umar and Air Marshal Adesola Amosu.
