Alleged $1bn Arms Deal: Attahiru Meets Reps Committee, Asks Lawmakers to Invite Buratai, Others
- Nigeria's Army chief, Ibrahim Attahiru, has finally appeared before the House committee investigating arms procurement deals in the last 10 years
- Attahiru asked the lawmakers to invite his predecessors who were in charge of the Army during the period under review
- There were three Army chiefs within the period under review, including the immediate past COAS, Buratai
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The Chief of Army Staff, Ibrahim Attahiru, a lieutenant general, has told the House of Representatives to invite his predecessors to shed more light on an alleged $1 billion arms procurement deal as he only took over barely two months ago.
Vanguard reports that Attahiru said this when he appeared before the committee investigating arms purchase and other related deals in the last 10 years on Monday, April 12.
Source: Twitter
The newspaper noted that the Army chief did not mention any name but (Vanguard) listed his predecessors captured during the year under review. They include:
1. Lt-Gen Azubuike Ihejirika (rtd) (COAS, 2010 – 2014)
2. Lt-Gen Kenneth Minimah (rtd) (COAS, 2014 – 2015)
3. Lt-Gen Tukur Buratai (rtd) (COAS, 2015 to 2021).
Also reporting the development, Premium Times noted that Attahiru had previously failed to honour the lawmakers’ invitation on three occasions.
However, at Monday’s hearing, the Army chief explained to the lawmakers that his inability to honour several invitations of the committee was due to other engagements on internal security.
Nevertheless, he refused to apologise to the committee as some lawmakers requested, noting that his explanation was sufficient.
Legit.ng gathers that Attahiru also refused to speak on the reports he earlier sent to the committee on the matter but instead asked that the committee should speak to relevant persons in the army.
In a bid to avert an impasse, the committee chairperson, Olaide Akinremi, decided to call for an executive session because of the sensitive nature of the subject matter.
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Recall that the National Security Adviser (NSA), Babagana Monguno, was quoted by the media as saying that funds meant for the purchase of arms were missing under the leadership of the immediate past service chiefs.
However, the NSA has refuted the reports, saying he was quoted out of context in an interview with the BBC Hausa service.
Nevertheless, it was the alleged statement that spurred the House of Reps' probe of the arms purchase deals.
Source: Legit.ng
