The Federal Government has said that the report of the Presidential Committee on the Audit of Defence Equipment Procurement in the Armed Forces between 2007 and 2015 submitted on Thursday to President Muhammadu Buhari did not cover the period when the Minister of Interior, General Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau was Chief of Army Staff (COAS). According to the government, what has been released so far is the report of the audit covering the period 2011 to 2015. The current Minister of Interior, Lt.-General Dambazau was Chief of Army Staff between August 2008 and September 2010. He was preceded by Lt.-General Luka Yusuf who was COAS from June 2007 to August 2008. The report submitted on Thursday indicted two ex-chiefs of Army Staff, Lt.-Generals Azubuike Ihejirika and Kenneth Minimah. Ihejirika was COAS between September 2010 and January 2014 while Minimah held the post from January 2014 till July 2015. In a statement issued in Abuja on Friday morning, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said that the committee that handled the probe would commence audit of procurement from 2007 to 2010 as soon as the necessary documents are available. “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 said. The minister assured that the Federal Government’s anti-corruption fight is non-discriminatory and urged Nigerians to keep an open mind as events unfold. He 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
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