Further Probe of Army Contracts

Last week, the Presidential Committee on the Audit of Defence Equipment Procurement from 2007 to 2015 said President Muhammadu Buhari had approved its recommendation to further investigate 18 serving and retired military officers, 12 serving and retired public officials and 24 chief executive officers of private companies who were all involved in weapons procurement during […]

Last week, the Presidential Committee on the Audit of Defence Equipment Procurement from 2007 to 2015 said President Muhammadu Buhari had approved its recommendation to further investigate 18 serving and retired military officers, 12 serving and retired public officials and 24 chief executive officers of private companies who were all involved in weapons procurement during the period in question. The approval followed the committee’s submission of its third interim report to the president. The committee’s president Air Vice Marshal Jon Ode (rtd) said the persons to be probed were either accounting officers or played key roles in the Nigerian Army’s procurement activities during the period.
The list of those to be investigated was a defence who’s who. It included former National Security Adviser retired Lt Col Sambo Dasuki and former Chiefs of Army Staff Lt.-Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika and Lt.-Gen. Kenneth Minimah, both retired. It also includes former Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr Nurudeen Mohammed and three former Permanent Secretaries in the Ministry of Defence, Alhaji Bukar Goni Aji, Mr. Haruna Sanusi and Mr. E.O. Oyemomi. Also listed for further probe are CEOs of arms procurement companies Col. Olu Bamgbose (rtd) of Bamverde Ltd; Mr. Amity Sade of Doiyatec Comms Ltd and DYI Global Services; and Mr. Edward Churchill of Westgate Global Trust Ltd.
The amounts involved in the contracts were staggering, amounting to N185.84 billion and $685 million spent on defence procurement and operations during the period. The committee said it found that Army contracts awarded by the Ministry of Defence during the period were often awarded without “significant input from the end-user (Nigerian Army) and to vendors who lacked the necessary technical competence.” If this finding is corroborated by subsequent investigation, then it is a very important pointer as to why this country’s military forces were in such a shambles, a fact that came to light when the once vaunted Nigerian military failed to contain the ragtag Boko Haram army until the situation spiralled out of control.
For example, the committee said three contracts worth N5.94 billion were awarded to DYI Global Services Ltd and Doiyatec Comms Nig. Ltd [both owned by the same individual] for the procurement of military hardware including 20 units of KM-38 twin hull boats and six units of 4X4 ambulances fitted with radios. According to its findings, the two companies collected N5 billion or 86 per cent of the total contract sum but they performed to the tune of N2.992 billion. The committee said a N169 million contract for the procurement of 53 armoured vehicles’ spare parts, was yet to be completed after five years though it had a 90 days’ completion time. Not only the Defence Ministry; contracts awarded directly by the Nigerian Army were also found to be characterised by “lack of due process, in breach of extant procurement regulations and tainted by corrupt practices.”
The question to be asked at this point is, what kind of arrangement is it that the Defence Ministry does some weapons procurement while the Army also procures some weapons? Where is the dividing line, who has the final say, how do we prevent duplication and how come that both agencies award contracts in strict violation of procurement rules? The reason is not farfetched because it looks like deep seated corruption was at the heart of it all. For example, the probe panel said “analysis of the various bank accounts of the two companies showed transfers to individuals related to then Chief of Army Staff.”
This shoddy procurement procedure, such as it was, was to cause international embarrassment for Nigeria in some cases. For example, the committee found that the defence ministry ordered 42 BTR-3U armoured personnel carriers and spare parts from Progress Limited in 2005-10. It said,  “Although 26 of the APCs were delivered in 2007 and immediately deployed for Peace Keeping Operations in Sudan, the APCs scandalously broke down on induction.” This incident not only embarrassed Nigeria but it deprived us of reimbursement from the United Nations.
Other findings were that cases of contract over-invoicing were common and huge sums of monies approved for military operations could not be accounted for. For example, in May 2013 the National Security Adviser’s office (ONSA) got N1.340 billion for Operation Boyona to dislodge terrorist camps along Nigeria’s borders with Cameroun, Chad and Niger. Three months later, ONSA requested and got another N2 billion for the same operation but Defence Headquarters and all the armed services denied receiving the money.
As for former Minister of State, Foreign Affairs Nurudeen Mohammed, he was said to have requested for N7 billion to urgently fund operations of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) in the Lake Chad Basin. The money was released to ONSA but “the committee could not ascertain the utilisation of the funds from ONSA, DHQ and the services.” It is necessary therefore to conduct a thorough probe of all these persons and companies. Anyone found to have siphoned away funds meant for national defence, in the midst of a war, should be made to return the monies and should also be severely punished. It is important however to conduct this investigation fairly and scrupulously and to establish guilt beyond reasonable doubt so that no one is unfairly punished for doing his duty.
The most important lesson is that this must not happen again.  As we previously said, the veil of secrecy that shrouds defence contracts greatly facilitates this criminal theft and shoddiness. The entire system of weapons procurement should therefore be re-examined and overhauled. After all, the big powers of the world know exactly what we have and don’t have. Shrouding military purchases in secrecy is therefore like the proverbial ostrich burying its head in the sand while its body stands exposed.