Following the suspicious death of one of them, members of
the Presidential Committee on $15billion Arms Procurement are seeking
protection from President Muhammadu Buhari.
The panel members might also push for a full-scale probe of
how the Fleet Commander, Western Naval Command, Apapa, Rear Admiral Daniel
Ikoli, died in suspicious circumstances at his residence in Lagos.
It was learnt that the team might meet next week on the type
of security apparatchik needed by members.
Based on the directive of the President, the National
Security Adviser, Brig-Gen. Babagana Monguno, on August 24, 2015 constituted
the panel to look into the procurement of hardware and munitions in the Armed
Forces from 2007 till date.
The assignment led to the investigation of a former National
Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki; a former Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief
Marshal Alex Badeh(rtd); two former Chiefs of Air Staff, Air Marshals
M.D. Umar and A.N. Amosu (rtd); 15 retired and serving senior military officers;
22 companies and many aides of the suspects.
Some of the affected officers are already standing trial in
courts.
But barely a few months after the panel was technically
disbanded, one of its key members, Rear Admiral Daniel Ikoli, died in what a
source described as suspicious.”
A source among the panel members said: “We are disturbed by
the questionable circumstances under which Ikoli purportedly died. We want a
full-scale investigation of the death.
“Technically, the manner in which Ikoli purportedly died has
left many questions unanswered. We are leaving the police to do its job.
“But we are also going to approach the President to provide
security for all members of the panel. Apart from being under tremendous
pressure during the assignment, there were obvious threats too.
“Most of our members are feeling unsafe; we need
presidential intervention because our risk exposure is too high. There is no
doubt that corruption will fight back and we will certainly be targeted.
“You can imagine what one of us, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, the
Acting Chairman of the EFCC, is going through partly because of the report of
the committee.”
Responding to a question, the source added: “Since the
assignment was completed, there has been lighter security apparatchik around
members unlike when they were on duty.”
Another committee member said: “While some members of the
committee are retired, some are still serving in various units of the Armed
Forces.
“The state ought to design a special protection module for
members of the panel. We did our best to serve the nation, but even our
colleagues are taking it personal as if we were all out to destroy the
military”.
Members of the panel are AVM J.O.N. Ode (rtd.); R/Adm. J.A.
Aikhomu (rtd.); R/Adm. E. Ogbor (rtd.); Brig.-Gen. L. Adekagun (rtd.);
Brig.-Gen. M. Aminu-Kano (rtd.); Brig.-Gen. N. Rimtip (rtd.); Cdre T.D. Ikoli;
Air Cdre U. Mohammed (rtd.); Air Cdre I. Shafi’i; Col. A.A. Ariyibi; Gp Capt
C.A. Oriaku (rtd.); and the Acting Chairman of the EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Magu. The
panel has Brig-Gen Y.I. Shalangwa as its Secretary.
Some of the highlights of the findings of the
committee are as follows: “The breaches identified by the Audit Committee
include non-specification of procurement costs, 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.
.”Furthermore, the procurement processes were arbitrarily
carried out and generally characterized by irregularities and fraud.
“In many cases, the procured items failed to meet the
purposes they were procured for, especially the counter-insurgency efforts in
the North-East.
“Between January 2014 and February 2015, NAF
awarded 10 contracts totalling Nine Hundred and Thirty Million, Five Hundred
Thousand, Six Hundred and Ninety US Dollars ($930,500,690.00).
“Letters of award and end user certificates for all the
contracts issued by NAF and ONSA respectively did not reflect the contract
sums. Rather, these were only found in the vendor’s invoices, all dated 19
March 2015. “
“Additionally, some of the award letters contained
misleading delivery dates suggesting fraudulent intent in the award process.
The observed discrepancies are in clear contravention of extant procurement
regulations.
“The SEI contracts included procurement of two used Mi-24V
Helicopters instead of the recommended Mi-35M series at the cost of One Hundred
and Thirty Six Million, Nine Hundred and Forty Four Thousand US Dollars
($136,944,000.00).
“However, it was confirmed that the helicopters were
excessively priced and not operationally air worthy at the time of delivery. A
brand new unit of such helicopters goes for about Thirty Million US Dollars
($30m). Furthermore, the helicopters were delivered without rotor blades and
upgrade accessories.
“Additionally, the helicopters were undergoing upgrade while
being deployed for operation in the North East without proper documentation. It
was further established that as at date, only one of the helicopters is in
service while the other crashed and claimed the lives of two NAF personnel.
“The committee established that ONSA also funded the
procurement of 4 used Alpha-Jets for the NAF at the cost of Seven Million, One
Hundred and Eighty Thousand US Dollars ($7,180,000.00). However, it was
confirmed that only 2 of the Alpha-Jet aircraft were ferried to Nigeria after
cannibalization of engines from NAF fleet.”
Yusuf Alli
