ABUJA (Sundiata Post) – President Muhammadu Buhari will launch a thorough investigation into the awards of contracts for the supply of military weapons in the recent past, the Presidency has disclosed.
Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, made the disclosure when he appeared on Channels Television programme, Politics Today, Sunday night.
Garba, while responding to a question on whether President Buhari would look into the military budgets, said, “The President is interested in every penny that leaves Nigeria’s treasury. As you are aware, records are being checked right now, not only in the oil sector, but also in the various departments of government.
“So, Mr President is really interested in what has happened to the equipment that have supposedly been bought and supplied, some of which might be there on the ground and might not be. Only a thorough audit will actually reveal this. The disclosure has been made about substandard in the Nigeria’s fight against Boko Haram”.
On government’s effort to contain insurgency in the north east, Shehu said, “President Muhammadu Buhari wants to urgently end Boko Haram. In fact, some semblance of normalcy is being restored. Right now, there is no territory in the control of Boko Haram. The insurgents have been degraded. They are in disarray without a central command and coordination”.
On the feasibility of local production of military equipment as directed by Buhari last Friday, the presidential aide said, “This government is guided by major principles and I will imagine that environment will be created for investment in the defence industry”.
On equipping the armed forces, Shehu said, “Mr President is not going to send troops to the war front without ensuring that they are properly equipped and without ensuring that they are properly taken care of. Just on Friday, at the National Defence College, Mr. President was committing himself to the fact that our military will be well taken care of in terms of their welfare, in terms of their equipment and in terms of the motivation they need to confront these insurgents.
“We are already beginning to see the fruits of this because as we speak right now, Boko Haram is in disarray. And what we are witnessing now; that is, occasional bombings and suicide attacks, characterise only one thing globally. And that is that it is the dying days of the insurgency. It’s just a matter of time, we’ll get there”.