…. It Is Not True-FG
A frontline Second Republic politician and Northern
leader, Dr. Junaid Mohammed told The Guardian
yesterday that some cabal in the Presidency
doctored the Arms Procurement Probe Report to
shield the former Chief of Army Staff and Minister
of Interior, Major General Abdulrahman Dambazau
(rtd) and former Director of Procurements, Defence
Headquarters, who is also current Chief Of Army
Staff, Major General Tukur Buratai.
Mohammed said: “Nigerians should recall that the
three Chiefs of Army Staff who served during the
period under review included Major General
Abdulrahman Dambazau, who is also the current
Minister of Interior, Major General Azubuike Ihejirika,
Major General Kenneth Minimah and Major General
Tukur Buratai, who before his appointment as the
current Chief of Army Staff, was Director of
Procurement, Defence Headquarters for years.
“The Report of the Committee was doctored in the
Presidency by some cabal after it was submitted, to
shield Dambazau and Buratai who were allegedly
indicted.
“Dambazau is a close ally of Alhaji Mamman Daura,
who is President Buhari’s nephew, and also head of
the ‘cabal’ in Buhari’s presidency today. Buratai is
an ally of Dambazau and President Buhari. So there
is no way the Presidency will not shield the duo.”
Mohammed said that there was no way Buratai and
Dambazau would not have been indicted in the
Report, having served as director of procurement in
the Defence Headquarters and Chief of Army Staff
under the period reviewed.
“Why is Ihejirika under any form of detention now?
Why is he being harassed, when the Presidency is
shielding some persons indicted in the report? Is it
because he is not President’s ally or not from the
North? President Buhari should publish the original
copy of the Report, the way that of Nigerian Air
Force mess was made public.
“Nigerians should know that as far as the cabal
holds sway in Aso Rock, nothing will happen to
Dambazua and Buratai,” Mohammed noted.A source
in the Presidency who craved anonymity told The
Guardian that Dambazua was not indicted in the
Report, because during his era as Chief of Army
Staff, awarding of contracts and procurement of
arms was being carried out by the Ministry of
Defence, not office of the Chief of Army Staff.
“It was after Dambazua left office that his successor
took charge of awarding of contracts and
procurement in the service. So there is no iota of
truth in the allegation that the report was doctored
to shield him.”
On why Mohammed is alleging that the report was
doctored to shield Dambazua, the source said: “You
know that Mohammed and Dambazua are from
Kano State. It has something to do with politics of
the State, and choice of minister from the State.
Some persons from the state preferred somebody
else, specifically President Buhari’s longtime ally
who got himself involved corruption act, not
Dambazau, to be minister. They are not comfortable
with his choice, but that was the President’s
decision.
However, the Federal Government yesterday said
there is no truth in the insinuation that the report of
the Presidential Committee on the Audit of Defence
Equipment Procurement in the Armed Forces
(2007-2015) was doctored for whatever reasons.
Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai
Mohammed, who stated this in a statement in
Abuja, said what has been released so far is the
report of the audit covering the period 2011 to
2015, adding that the Committee would commence
the audit of procurement from 2007 to 2010 as
soon as the necessary documents are available.
He said: ‘’When the documents regarding
procurement from 2007 to 2010 are available and
scrutinized, the committee will then issue its report
on that. The audit is being done in phases, and the
report that was released on Thursday is the third of
such.’’ He assured that the Federal Government’s
anti-corruption fight is non-discriminatory, and
called on Nigerians to keep an open mind as events
unfold.
No one should attempt to distract government from
the seriousness of the issues involved in this audit
of defence equipment procurement. It is important
to note that even though the total amount spent for
procurement and operations within the period were
N185,843,052,564.30 and $685,349,692.49, the
irregularities in the awards ensured that the military
did not get value for money, with very serious
consequences,’’ the Minister said.
http://m.guardian.ng/news/arms-probe-presidency-
doctored-report-to-shield-dambazau-buratai-says-
junaid-mohammed/
