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$1bn fund: How defence ministry purchased N37.9bn military vehicles, arms

The Ministry of Defence has purchased equipment for the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Navy and the Defence Intelligence Agency worth $99.5m (N37.9bn), out of the $1bn approved by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), Sunday PUNCH can authoritatively report.

Buhari, on April 4, 2018, was said to have approved the $1bn fund for military equipment, following a meeting with security chiefs at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Then Minister of Defence, Brig. Gen. Mansur Dan-Ali, spoke with State House correspondents after the meeting, saying, “Of recent, our leader, President Muhammadu Buhari, gave approval for the purchase of more equipment for the military, worth $1bn.”

However, barely a month after the resignation and replacement of the immediate past service chiefs, the National Security Adviser, Maj. Gen.   Babagana Monguno (retd), in March, alleged that the $1bn meant to purchase arms to tackle the insurgency had gone missing.

“I’m not saying the former service chiefs diverted the money, but the money is missing. We don’t know how, and nobody knows for now. I believe Mr President will investigate where the money went,” Monguno said.

The ex-service chiefs are the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Abayomi Olonisakin (retd.); Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai (retd); Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok Ekwe Ibas (retd.); and Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar (retd.).

The NSA quickly recanted moments later, but this did not stop Nigerians from calling for an investigation into how the $1bn arms funds were spent.

Similarly, the House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee on the Need to Review the Purchase, Use and Control of Arms, Ammunition and Related Hardware by Military, Paramilitary and Other Law Enforcement Agencies in Nigeria vowed to investigate the “missing” arms and ammunition.

Buhari had told the National Assembly in 2018 that he ordered the payment of $496m to the United States Government for the purchase of 12 Tucano aircraft ahead of legislative approval to withdraw the $1bn fund from the Excess Crude Account.

Documents obtained by our correspondent showed that the Ministry of Defence subsequently awarded contracts worth a total of $99,538,467.23 for the military equipment.

The ‘Certificate of No Objection for Award of Contract’ issued by the Bureau of Public Procurement (Ref No. BPP/S.1/Vol.XV/19/114), dated January 16, 2020, referred to the source of funding for the military hardware as “$1bn under the Intervention Fund subject to Mr President’s approval,” while indicating that the Ministry of Defence was the implementing ministry/agency.

The document was signed by the Director General of the Bureau of Public Procurement, Mamman Ahmadu; and BPP Director, Compliance, Certification and Monitoring, Ishaq Yahaya.

The Ministry of Defence, on September 17, 2018, also approved a ‘Letter of Award of Contract for the Procurement of Critical Equipment – Two Types of Vehicles, Reutech Surveillance Equipment, Three Types of Weapons and Three Types of Ammunitions for the Nigerian Navy’ (Ref No. MOD/PROC/SIF/2018/1/2).

Items listed under the ‘Vehicles’ category included 10 units of T-90 Tank Second Generation ($43.68m), and 10 units of BREM-4 Armoured Recovery ($20,794,619.56).

Under ‘Surveillance Equipment,’ the document quoted 20 units of Ground Surveillance Radar equipment – Reutech ($7,041,245.91), while the ‘Weapons’ category comprised 20 units of 81mm mortar ($1,050,600), 120 units of MG-127-DSHK-M guns ($2,715,553.80), and 2,012 units of AKMS rifles ($1,608,151.36).

Under ‘Ammunitions,’ the items listed included 8,141 units of 81mm Mortar Bombs ($9,955,615.97), 1,103,000 rounds of 12.7mmx108mm Cartridges ($7,157,367), and 3,259 units of 122mm Grad (Rocket) ($5,535,313.73).

However, in a letter with Ref No. MOD/PROC/SIF/2018/1/2 dated February 5, 2020, the ministry sought to replace the $43.68m T-90 tanks in the previous document with a new list of items for the same amount.

The document is titled ‘Letter for Award of Contract for the Procurement of Critical Equipment for the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Navy and the Defence Intelligence Agency: Replacement of the 10 T-90 Tanks with 60 Legion MRAP Including DSHK Guns, Codan HF Vehicular Radio and Automatic Turret with Pre-Shipment Inspection; and 24 Phantom II APC Including Pre-Shipment Inspection, Complete with Spares, Training and Maintenance.’

Under the ‘Legion MRAP’ category, the document listed 60 units each of Legion MRAP vehicles ($475,587.42), 12.7mm DSHK AA Guns ($18,750), Codan Radios ($6,920), and Armoured Turrets ($29,631).

Under the ‘Phantom II APC’ category, the document listed 24 units each of Phantom II Armoured Personnel Carriers ($385,208.67), 12.7mm DSHK AA Guns ($18,750), Codan ($6,920), and Turret ($29,631).

The sub-totals of the Legion MRAP ($530,888.42) and Phantom II APC ($440,509.67) added up to $971,398.09. However, the total contract sum was put at $43,680,000, including ‘Total for MRAP and Phantom II APC including pre-shipment inspection’ ($42,425,537.10), and ‘Balance for Spares + Training + Maintenance’ ($1,254,462.90).

Further investigation showed that several shipments of some of the listed equipment were obtained by the military with certificates of delivery issued by Brig-Gen B.A. Ilori or Brig-Gen M.T. Jinadu, for the Chief of Army Staff.

According to one letter dated May 29, 2019, the Nigerian Army, in Abuja on May 20 and 22, 2019, took delivery of 2012 AKMS rifles, 70 DSHK 12.7mm guns, 250 CZ 75 pistols and 550 units of 122mm Grad rockets.

In another document dated November 29, 2019, the Army confirmed receipt of 3,259 122mm Grad rockets, 20 40x46mm LV HE cartridges, 160 7.62mmx54mm ball-rimmed cartridges, 167 7.62mmx51mm metal link cartridges, and 30,939 7.62mmx39mm ball special cartridges.

Also, a letter dated January 31, 2020, indicated the delivery of 20 GSRS through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos on December 26, 2019. Another dated September 3, 2020, said the Army received 84 DSHK guns on August 11, 2020, and “found to be new and suitable for operational use.”

While a January 5, 2021 letter showed that the Army took receipt of 24 Phantom II APCs on December 14, 2020, another dated January 6, 2021 said 589,337 rounds of 12.7mmx108mm cartridges were delivered on December 12, 2020 and found to be “new and suitable.”

A document dated March 23, 2021, also confirmed the delivery of 20 81mm mortars and 8,141 81mm mortar bombs were delivered on September 18, 2020.

Sunday PUNCH gathered that several items had yet to be delivered as international flights came to a standstill owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Federal Government finally lifted the restriction on flights in September 2020, six months after the ban took effect.

A Supplementary Agreement between the Federal Government and the contractor dated August 12, 2020 said, “Further execution of the contract has been stalled since February 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the embargo on international flights that has prevented the carrying out of the mandatory pre-shipment inspection by the authorised representatives of the buyer (Federal Government).”

ased on the contract awarded by the defence ministry, the items yet to be delivered include 10 BREM-4 Armoured Recovery vehicles ($20,794,619.56), 50 MG-127-DSHK-M guns ($1,131,480.75), 513,663 12.7x108mm cartridges ($3,333,159.21), 84 Codan radios ($13,840), and 84 Armoured Turrets ($59,262). The total cost of the remaining items is $25,332,361.52.

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