By Sumaila Ogbaje
Abuja – The Defence Headquarters has dismissed the allegation of embezzlement in the military by a whistle blower claiming underpayment of soldiers as provided in the Manual of Financial Administration for the Armed Forces of Nigeria (MAFA) 2017.
The Acting Director, Defence Information, Brig.-Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, in a statement on Tuesday, said that the MAFA document had not been activated for implementation.
According to him, the DHQ wishes to clarify that the insinuation that personnel of the Armed Forces are under remunerated as against the provisions of MAFA 2017 is unfounded and untrue.
“Contrary to the claims made by the Twitter handle @ millisaint, the said document has not been activated and therefore yet to be implemented, since the appropriation 2020 was recently passed.
“The provisions of the MAFA document are thus, billed to be operational in year 2020.
“It is also essential to point out that MAFA allowances are not part of the Salary Structure of the Armed Forces, consequently, even when implemented the salary structure will remain unchanged.
“The anticipated impactful change on the salary structure will only come as a result of the recently approved N30,000 minimum wage that will be paid by IPPIS,” he said.
Nwachukwu, however, challenged the whistle blower to endeavour to verify his information from reliable and authourised sources to establish the veracity of his information in order to avoid causing disaffection within the ranks of the Armed Forces.
“Members of the public are please enjoined to discountenance the misinformation as it is misguided and bereft of any iota of truth.
“The DHQ wishes to reassure all personnel of the Armed Forces of Nigeria and members of the public that personnel welfare is paramount in the vision and mission of the current leadership of the military.
“Any form of short changing of personnel will be met with stiff penalties,” he said.
NAN
