Following the public outcry that greeted the release of the report of Presidential Committee on the Audit of Defence Equipment Procurement in the Armed Forces, the Federal government has said it has not exonerated Abdulrahman Dambazau, the incumbent minister of interior, who served as Chief of Army Staff (COAS) between 2008 and 2010.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Friday, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, pointed out that what has been released so far is the report of the audit covering the period 2011 to 2015, adding that the Committee would commence the audit of procurement from 2007 to 2010 as soon as the necessary documents are available.
”When the documents regarding procurement from 2007 to 2010 are available and scrutinised, the committee will then issue its report on that. The audit is being done on phases, and the report that was released on Thursday is the third of such,” the Mohammed said.
On Thursday, Nigerians had accused the government of shielding Gen. Dambazau by doctoring the arms scandal report to exclude his tenure as COAS.
Lai Mohammed noted that there is no truth in the insinuation that the report of the Presidential Committee on the Audit of Defence Equipment Procurement in the Armed Forces (2007-2015) was doctored for whatever reason.
He assured that the Federal Government’s anti-corruption fight is non-discriminatory, and called on Nigerians to keep an open mind as events unfold.
”No one should attempt to distract from the seriousness of the issues involved in this audit of defence equipment procurement. It is important to note that even though the total amount spent for procurement and operations within the period were N185, 843,052,564.30 and $685,349,692.49, the irregularities in the awards ensured that the military did not get value for money, with very serious consequences,” the Minister said.
Also, Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau, minister of interior, in a terse, text message to our correspondent, said, he did not influence the doctoring of the arm scandal report as alleged.
