President Buhari orders fresh probe of military officers over contract scam

• Azubuike Ihejirika also indicted

President Muhammadu Buhari has just approved a fresh investigation of 54 retired and serving army officers, retired and serving public officials as well as chief executive officers of companies over their role in the scandal rocking the procurement of military hardware between 2007 and 2015.

The equipment were partly for the prosecution of the war against terrorists.

Lai Mohammed, information minister, said the committee charged with investigating the defence equipment procurement from 2007 to 2015 found a number of irregularities in the contract awards.

There had been reports of fear in the military and among Buhari’s ministers over possible indictment by the committee.

In a statement made available to NAIJ.com, Mohammed said the approval followed the third interim report of the presidential committee on the audit of defence equipment chaired by retired Air Vice Marshal Jon Ode, and which was released on Thursday, July 14.

Among those to be investigated are 18 serving and retired military personnel, 12 serving and retired public officials and 24 chief executive cfficers of companies involved in the procurement.

The statement said all those indicted were either accounting officers or played key roles in the procurement activities during the period under review.

Those listed for further investigation include two former Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt-General OA Ihejirika (rtd) and Lt-General KTJ Minimah (rtd); former minister of state for Foreign Affairs II, Dr Nurudeen Mohammed and three former permanent secretaries in the ministry of Defence – Mr Bukar Goni Aji, Mr Haruna Sanusi and Mr EO Oyemomi respectively.

Also, the chief executive officers to be investigated include 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.

According to the committee, the total amount spent for procurement and operations within the period were N185,843,052,564.30 and $685,349,692.49.

The committee also found that the Nigerian Army contracts awarded by the ministry of Defence for the period under review were often awarded without “significant input from end-user (Nigerian Army) and to vendors who lacked the necessary technical competence.

“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 Nig Ltd (owned by the same individuals) procurement of military hardware including 20 units of KM-38 twin Hull boats and 6 units of 4X4 ambulances fitted with radios.

“The committee found that the two companies collected N5,103,500,000.00, representing 86 percent 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,” the report said.

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 is yet to be completed five years after.

With respect to contracts awarded directly by the Nigerian Army, the committee found that many of the contracts were characterised by “lack of due process, in breach of extant procurement regulations and tainted by corrupt practices.

“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 N3,000,000,000.0 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