Abuja – The Nigerian Army is carrying out forensic audit of its units, formations and all operations nationwide as part of efforts to ensure prudent utilisation of resources allocated to it, an official said.
The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, made the disclosure in Abuja on Monday when Mr Ugochukwu Osuagwu, Principal Partner of St Francis Xavier Solicitors paid him visit.
Buratai said the Army, under his command, had zero tolerance for corruption as every activity of formations and units were being subjected to thorough scrutiny.
He noted that wastages of the past were being corrected to align to the policy thrust of the present administration.
“My officers know how much I have emphasised the need for basic audit of our accounts.
“The military police is presently carrying out a forensic audit of every formation in the Nigerian Army and, in particular, our operations in the northeast.
“We are looking into the details of how funds were utilised in all our operations, especially in the northeast, in order to ensure that we justify what has been given to the Army,’’ Buratai said.
He attributed the successes recorded in the fight against insurgency in the northeast to the judicious use of funds allocated to the Army for counter-insurgency operations.
He said today the Army could beat its chest that it had defeated Boko Haram largely because of the way funds had been used.
He said if the authorities had embezzled the funds given to the Army for operations, the feat achieved in the northeast would not have been possible.
Buratai said the Army remained loyal and committed to the present administration’s fight against corruption and transparency.
He commended the effort of Osuagwu for making efforts to verify the truth about his declaration of assets before the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB).
He urged other Nigerians to emulate Usuagwu’s virtues of patriotism, selflessness, honesty and respect for human dignity.
Earlier, Osuagwu said his quest for the truth about the Buratai’s Dubai property saga was borne out of his quest for the truth.
He stressed that the revelation from the CCB document on the property owned by the Army chief should end the controversy surrounding the matter.
Osuagwu commended the Army chief for his level of transparency and described the matter as an unnecessary distraction and a national apprehension that should not have come up.
“Being here is part of my civic duty to contribute in resolving national apprehension; it is unnecessary controversy that just came up recently.
“When this issue came up I felt there was a need for the central body, which is the Code of Conduct Bureau, to put an end to this matter.
“My firm wrote to the CCB and in the letter of July 11 it was clearly stated that the said asset was in his asset declaration form and the said property was declared in his wife’s name,’’ he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Ugochukwu’s firm got the Code of Conduct Bureau to disclose the content of Buratai’s asset declaration form in the wake of the Dubai property saga. (NAN)
