THE plan by the Federal Government to probe arms purchases under the former Goodluck Jonathan administration is in order. It should involve a detailed audit of all contracts for weapons procurement by the military high command in the last few years.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Public­ity, Mallam Garba Shehu, who dis­closed the plan, said the president was eager to take stock of funds that left the national treasury and what they were used for. He also hinted that “records are being checked right now, not only in the oil sector, but also in the various departments of government.”
Everything considered, we think a thorough audit of all contracts for the procurement of weapons for the military is a wise step. There have, for some time now, been con­troversies on the funds appropriat­ed for security and the war against insurgency. Beyond that, Nigeria was last year embarrassed by the over $15 million cash-for-arms deals in South Africa that went awry. The Asset Forfeiture Unit of the National Prosecuting Authority in South Africa, had on September 5, 2014, seized $9.3m cash flown into the country from Nigeria in a private jet.
While the dust raised by the $9.3m transaction was yet to settle, an­other seizure of $5.7m belonging to Nigeria was made by South Af­rican authorities. One year after, it is not yet clear whether the $15m had been returned to Nigeria or not. The former National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd), however, recently claimed that while some weapons and oth­er equipment procured by the last administration were used to fight insurgency during the closing days of that administration, some oth­ers were still being awaited. This is why a comprehensive audit of the arms purchases has become expe­dient, to ensure financial account­ability and proper stock-taking. It will also help to ensure that all arms that have been paid for, but are yet to be delivered, are eventu­ally supplied.
We also support this probe as it will help the military high com­mand to give an account of how it utilised the N4.62 trillion spent on security in the last five years by the Jonathan administration. A break­down of past budget allocations to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) shows that Defence had the lion share of federal budgets in the last few years, getting N934bn in 2015, N923bn in 2013, N924b in 2014 and N920bn in 2012 and 2011.
In spite of these huge allocations, the former military chiefs claimed that the funds were insufficient to procure the arms needed to end the insurgency. For instance, a few days ago, the immediate past Chief of Defence Staff, Alex Badeh, told Nigerians that he led a “military that was ill-equipped”. Many sol­diers, particularly those in the battlefront, have also been report­ed to have frequently complained about not being properly treated and motivated.
It is in this regard that we wel­come this probe as part of financial house-keeping that is required to get to the root of our inability to surmount the Boko Haram insur­gency and general insecurity in the country.
But, for the audit to yield the ex­pected results, government should appoint experts in arms and ammu­nition procurement, and defence in general, to lead the probe. The in­vestigation should not be aimed at embarrassing or harassing the im­mediate past administration or any of its officials.
Its objective should be to ensure that arms purchases were properly handled during the last administra­tion, and to henceforth enthrone transparency and accountability in future arms procurements, to im­prove the nation’s chances of win­ning the war against insurgency and general insecurity.