NSA Denies Arms Procurements Funds Are Missing

The National Security Adviser has debunked the report making rounds that the funds meant for procurement of arms have gone missing under the former Service Chiefs.

BBC Hausa Service had earlier disclosed that the NSA, Maj-Gen Babagana Monguno, during an interview hinted that the funds have gone missing.

He said, “No one knows what happened to the money, but by God’s grace, the president will investigate to find out where it went or where the goods went.”

The office of the National Security Adviser, however, stated that he was quoted of context “as he did not categorically say that funds meant for arms procurement were missing under the Former Service Chiefs as reported or transcribed by some media outlets from the BBC interview.”

Instead, the ONSA statement said, Monguno had “only reiterated the Federal Government’s commitment to deal decisively with insecurity and stated President Muhammadu Buhari’s continued commitment to providing all necessary support to the Armed Forces, including the provision of arms and equipment.”

The statement stressed that the NSA had “clearly informed the BBC reporter that Mr President has provided enormous resources for arms procurement, but the orders were either inadequate or yet to be delivered and that did not imply that the funds were misappropriated under the former Service Chiefs.

“The NSA also informed the reporter that, Mr President is following up on the procurement process as is usual with contracts relating to military equipment, in most cases the process involves manufacturing, due diligence and tedious negotiations that may change delivery dates.”