TheCable

The federal government on Friday rejected insinuations suggesting that the report of the committee auditing the procurement of arms between 2007 and 2015, was doctored.

The government also noted that the committee would soon begin the audit of procurement of the armed forces between 2007 and 2010.

In a statement, Lai Mohammed (pictured), minister of information and culture, said the audit carried out only covered “2011 to 2015”.

“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 on phases, and the report that was released on Thursday is the third of such,” the minister said.

“No one should attempt to distract 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.”

President Muhammadu Buhari recently ordered the investigation of Azubuike Ihejirika, former chief of army staff, and Kenneth Minimah, his successor.

A statement was signed to this effect by John Ode, head of the committee on the audit of procurement of arms, who noted that Buhari gave the directive after receiving the third interim report of the committee.

Eighteen serving and retired military personnel, 12 serving and retired public officials and 24 chief executive officers of companies, were recommended also for investigation.