How Buratai, Olonisakin, Others Spent N2.6trillion On Arms Under Buhari

Former service chiefs – now ambassador-designate – spent more than N2.659 trillion on military arms and ammunition between 2015 and 2019 under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

It was gathered that the N2.659 trillion spent by the former security chiefs is outside the controversial $1 billion Excess Crude Account Fund which was approved and released by Buhari in April 2018 despite public outcry.

The N2.659 trillion for military arms was the total, according to records, for 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 and was shared among the immediate past Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Tukur Buratai (retd.), the former Chief of Defence Staff, General Abayomi Olonisakin (retd.), the former Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd.) and the former Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar (retd.).

According to SaharaReporters, the breakdown shows that “in 2015, the military spent N397 billion on arms; in 2016, N444 billion; in 2017, N495 billion; in N2018; N654 billion; in 2019; N669 billion.”

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), a Sweden-based group that documents military transactions globally, Nigeria within these years bought arms from at least 13 countries.

The SIPRI Arms Transfers Database identified the countries that supplied the arms as: “Brazil, which supplied EMB-314 Super Tucano trainer aircraft; Canada, which supplied Turboprop/turboshaft in 2018; China, which supplied SH-2122mm and SH-5105 self-propelled guns, VT-4 tanks, ZTL-09 armoured vehicles, CH-3 and CH-4 armed UAVs.”

Other countries are France, Italy, Netherlands, Pakistan, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and the United States.

Recall that 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.”