According to a statement by the
President’s Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, this
directive by President Muhammadu Buhari follows the recommendation of the
committee established to audit the procurement of arms and equipment in the
armed forces and defence sector from 2007 to 2015.
The officers indicted are former Chief of Defence Staff,
Retired Air Chief Marshal Alex Sabundu Badeh; Former Chief of Air Staff,
Retired Air Marshal Mohammed Dikko Umar, and former Chief of Air Staff, Retired
Air Marshal Adesola Nunayon Amosu.
The others are Major General E.R. Chioba (Rtd), Air Vice
Marshal I.A. Balogun (Rtd), Air Vice Marshal A.G. Tsakr (Rtd), Air Vice Marshal
A.G. Idowu (Rtd), Air Vice Marshal A.M. Mamu, Air Vice Marshal, O.T.
Oguntoyinbo, Air Vice Marshal T. Omenyi, Air Vice Marshal J.B. Adigun, Air Vice
Marshal R.A. Ojuawo, and Air Vice Marshal J.A. Kayode-Beckley.
Others are; Air Commodore Sa Yushau (Rtd), Air Commodore
A.O. Ogunjobi, Air Commodore G.M.D. Gwani, Air Commodore S.O. Makinde, Air
Commodore A.Y. Lassa, Colonel N. Ashinze, and Lt. Colonel Mohammed Sambo Dasuki
(Rtd).
Also to be investigated are the roles of the officers and
some companies and their directors in what the statement describes as
fundamental breaches associated with the procurement by the offices of the
National Security Adviser and the Nigerian Air Force.
They include: Messrs Societe D’
Equipments Internationaux, Himma Aboubakar, Aeronautical Engineering and Technical Services
Limited, Messrs Syrius Technologies, Dr Theresa A. Ittu, Sky
Experts Nig Ltd, Omenyi Ifeanyi Tony, Huzee Nig Ltd, GAT Techno
Dynamics Ltd, Gbujie Peter Obie, Onuri Samuel Ugochukwu,Spacewebs Interservices Ltd ,Oguntoyinbo
Tayo, Oguntoyinbo Funmi., Delfina Oil and Gas Ltd, Chief Jacobs
Bola, Mono Marine Corporation Nig Ltd, Geonel Intergrated Services
Ltd, Sachi Felicia,Mudaki Polycarp and Wolfgang Reinl.
According to the
statement, the procurement processes were arbitrarily carried out and
characterized by irregularities and fraud, while in many cases, the items
procured failed to meet their required purposes, especially the counter
insurgency operations in the north east.
A major procurement activity undertaken by ONSA for NAF was that concerning the contracts awarded to Societe D’
Equipment Internationaux (SEI) Nig Ltd.
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) to SEI
Nig Ltd.
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.
This is contrary to the written assertion
of the former Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal AN Amosu to the former NSA that
all the 4 procured Alpha-Jets aircraft were delivered to the NAF.
The non-militarisation of the Alpha-Jets
made them unsuitable for deployment to the North East and they are currently
deployed only for training at NAF Kainji.
Furthermore, the procurement of the
Alpha-Jets was contrary to the recommendation of the assessment team. The
Committee found that the conduct of Air Marshal Amosu was deliberately misleading
and unpatriotic.
The contract for the procurement of 36D6
Low Level Air Defence Radar for the NAF was awarded to GAT Techno Dynamics Ltd
in April 2014 at the cost of Thirty Three Million US Dollars ($33m) and was
funded by ONSA.
The Committee established that the radars
were excessively priced as a complete set of such radars (comprising 6 radars
including the Control Centre) goes for Six Million US Dollars ($6m) averagely.
The Committee observed that the radars were delivered without the vital component
of Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) that distinguishes between own and
adversary aircraft, which has significantly degraded the operational
capabilities of the NAF in the North East.
It was further observed that the sum of
Three Million, Three Hundred Thousand US Dollars ($3.3m) was fraudulently
included in the contract agreement as VAT and With Holding Tax and
subsequently paid into the bank accounts of Spacewebs Interservices Ltd and
Delfina Oil and Gas Ltd.
The Committee further established that
Two Million US Dollars ($2m) from the proceeds was transferred to Mono Marine
Corporation Nig Ltd, which is jointly owned by principal characters in this
deal. The Committee opined that the infractions of extant regulations by these
companies were clearly intended to defraud.
It was established that
between September 2009 and May 2015, the NAF expended about Fifteen Billion
Naira (N15bn) on the maintenance of its Alpha-Jets, C-130H aircraft and
Mi-24V/35P helicopters. Out of this amount, Four Billion, Four Hundred and Two
Million, Six Hundred and Eighty Seven Thousand, Five Hundred and Sixty Nine
Naira, Forty One Kobo (N4,402,687,569.41) was paid out for contracts not
executed.
It was also observed that in carrying out
these maintenance activities, contracts worth over Two Billion, Five Hundred
Million Naira (N2.5bn) were awarded to Syrius Technologies, a Ukrainian company
that was not registered in Nigeria. Regrettably, in spite of these
expenditures, the status of NAF fleet remained operationally appalling as only
3 Alpha-Jets, 2 C-130H and one each of Mi-24V and Mi-35P were serviceable as at
28 May 15.
In October 2013, NAF awarded contracts to
DICON for the supply of weapons and ammunition at the cost of Five Hundred and
Ninety Nine Million, One Hundred and Eighteen Thousand Naira (N599,118,000.00).
However, only 2 of the 7 items contracted were delivered to NAF while the
outstanding 5 items remained undelivered despite repeated requests to DICON.
The Committee also found that the
delivered ammunition were about 40 years old, thereby casting doubts on their
shelf life. The failure of DICON to fully execute the contract and the delivery
of aged ammunition diminished the capacity of the NAF in North East operation.
The Committe uncovered insider dealings
by military officers in procurement activities undertaken by ONSA and the NAF.
The officers were found to have misused or abused their offices for personal
gains by influencing award of contracts to private companies in which they have
substantial interests.
For instance, an officer serving in the
ONSA used his office to secure 2 contracts for his company, Geonel Integrated
Services Ltd, for the protection of 20 Dams and Presidential Air Fleet security
at the cost of Six Billion, Two Hundred and Fifty Million Naira
(N6,250,000,000.00) and Five Million US Dollars ($5m) respectively.
Furthermore, some NAF officers used their
companies to collect VAT and With Holding Tax that were never remitted to FIRS
while another officer was found to have cross transferred about Five Hundred
Million Naira (N500m) between a NAF company, Aeronautical Engineering and
Technical Services Limited, SkyExperts Nig Ltd and Huzee Nig Ltd, companies in
which he had personal interests.
It would be recalled that in its First
Interim Report, the Committee on Audit of Defence Equipment established that
the sum of Six Hundred and Forty Three Billion Naira (N643bn) and Two Billion,
One Hundred Million US Dollars ($2.1bn) interventions were received for defence
procurements by DHQ and the Services between 2007 and 2015.
In continuation of its assignment, the
Committee has so far established that the nation spent about Twenty Nine
Billion Naira (N29bn) and Two Billion US Dollars ($2bn) on NAF procurement
activities alone.
