Ex-Ministers Of Defence, Army Chiefs Jittery As COAS Buratai Sets Up New Probe Panel

8 years ago

Ex-Ministers Of Defence, Army Chiefs Jittery As COAS Buratai Sets Up New Probe Panel

Some former ministers of defence and some retired senior officers are said to be jittery as another probe panel has been set up by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Buratai.

Informed military sources disclosed to Saturday Tribune that the eight man panel, headed by a General, is to investigate all equipment and other logistics bought by the Nigerian Army from 2010 to 2015.

One of the sources revealed that “the panel is to find out the names of the contractors who executed the jobs and supplied the equipment and at what cost.”

The source told the Saturday Tribune that on all the jobs and contracts executed, “the panel will find out which of the contracts were done and those yet to be done and at what level of completion are they now Saturday Tribune gathered authoritatively that the probe by the Nigerian Army is quite different from the one set up by President Muhammadu Buhari last month while sources close to some ex-defence minister and some retired senior officers said they were worried over the modus operandi of the probe panel.

The military source revealed that “much of the equipment was either not supplied or is of inferior quality, hence the Army chief is determined to get to the root of all the so-called awarded contracts.”

The source added that the panel will not invite anybody for the probe, but will go into the records of the supplies and contracts at Army Headquarters and retrieve all files related to the contracts.”

Saturday Tribune gathered that the panel would also find out from the records “at what amount the contract to supply or to build was awarded and how much was paid.”

The probe panel, which has been inaugurated, is to commence investigations next week and would tour all the military formations in the country to find out the true position of things.

The military source added, that even the equipment that was supplied to all the army locations in which they are kept would be visited and “the panel will find out the state it is, and from which country it was purchased.”

Also the panel is to find out “if the contractors that executed the projects and supplied the equipment are fully registered with the military and are also specialists in those areas of the equipment they supplied.”

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