The last on the arms fraud has not been heard as recent investigations\u00a0have revealed that those catching the thieves have become thieves over\u00a0night as a result of the temptation that comes with the huge sums of\u00a0foreign currency involved.<\/p>\n
The Office of the National Security Adviser, currently occupied by\u00a0Babagana Monguno and Minister of Defence, Alhaji Dan Ali have both been\u00a0fingered in the scandal involving the Presidential Investigative Committee\u00a0on Arms Procurement after the Department of State Services (DSS) arrested\u00a0one of its member, Air Commodore Umar Muhammed (rtd) over the $2.1 million\u00a0arms procurement scam.<\/p>\n
It was gathered that the arrested committee member who voluntarily sang to\u00a0the delight of investigators indicted both men as key influence in the\u00a0syndicate.<\/p>\n
The latest fraud involving persons serving the current government has\u00a0raised concerns about the sincerity of the ongoing anti-corruption fight\u00a0since the committee was itself set up to investigate the theft of funds\u00a0meant for buying weapons to fight Boko Haram terrorists under the previous\u00a0government.<\/p>\n
According to a petition obtained from the Department of State Security\u00a0Service through our source, a group of Nigerians through the Nigeria\u00a0Concerned Citizen Assembly (NCCA), which expressed outrage at the\u00a0involvement of high ranking administration officials in the latest scam\u00a0has now asked the DSS to widen its probe as it warned that the sincerity\u00a0of the agency in carrying out the investigation would be a test of the\u00a0commitment of President Muhammadu Buhari\u2019s government\u2019s to its campaign\u00a0promise to tackle corruption.<\/p>\n
Our source further hinted that both men have been making frantic efforts\u00a0to use some highly placed citizens to sweep the allegations under the\u00a0carpet but the no nonsense Director General of the Service has vowed that\u00a0full forensic investigations must be carried out and culprits brought to\u00a0book irrespective of their situations.<\/p>\n
The assembly, in a letter to the Director General of DSS asked the secret\u00a0police to look higher up the chain of command to those that Air Commodore\u00a0Muhammed (rtd) answered to because the fraud committed in the committee\u00a0was more widespread than reported.<\/p>\n
The letter by NCCA\u2019s convener, Dr Abraham Odukoya, dated June 27th 2016\u00a0revealed that the Minister of Defence, Alhaji Dan Ali resides in a\u00a0N3.2billion Abuja property belonging to the arrested committee member with\u00a0suggestions that the he answers to the minister.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt may interest you to know that Air Commodore Muhammed (rtd) owns a\u00a0guest house valued at N3.2 Billion within the highbrow area of the FCT\u00a0-Abuja whereat he plays host to the Minister of Defence who actually\u00a0attained his present position due to the influence of Air Commodore\u00a0Muhammed. This is a clear indication that the allegation that the duo are
\ncollaborators in crime and benefited from the arms procurement fraud may\u00a0not be false after all,\u201d the letter reads.<\/p>\n
The group which said the DSS could be on the verge of making history in\u00a0the anti-corruption war given the calibre of those it is currently\u00a0investigating noted that the linking of the Minister of Defence in the\u00a0scam has made the investigation \u201csophisticated, expensive and demanding\u201d\u00a0such that the department must now become deliberate in its actions.<\/p>\n
There are concerns that the ONSA and Minister of Defence are already using\u00a0their clout and connections to block the investigation after the level of\u00a0their involvement was revealed. Both men who were totally bankrupt prior\u00a0to their appointments have become millionaires overnight in less than one\u00a0year into the administration, acquiring choice properties in and out of\u00a0Abuja unloving to many that the have dipped their fingers into the\u00a0treasury.<\/p>\n
NCCA expressed concerns that \u201chighly placed individuals\u201d were out to\u00a0scuttle the investigation given the concerted efforts they have been\u00a0making in this regard since the arrest of Air Commodore Muhammed (rtd).<\/p>\n
The group which backed the arrests made by the DSS insisted that the\u00a0agency must conduct a thorough and impartial investigation, \u201cWe are poised\u00a0now more than ever before to kill this notion that high and mighty persons\u00a0are above the law and cannot be touched even when they commit heinous\u00a0crimes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe at NCCA are solidly behind you and call on you and the entire\u00a0leadership of the DSS to continue to distinguish yourselves by ensuring\u00a0that you get to the bottom of this arms procurement fraud in such a manner\u00a0that no person, no matter how highly placed, is left off the hook,\u201d it\u00a0demanded.<\/p>\n
The assembly warned that those involved in the fraud could constitute the\u00a0greatest security threat to the nation if they are allowed to walk the\u00a0country free with the proceeds of their crime. \u201cThe security implication\u00a0of allowing those who have looted such huge amount on of money hang around\u00a0freely and perhaps even use the monies to influence decisions in Nigeria\u00a0is best analysed by your office,\u201d the letter declared.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The last on the arms fraud has not been heard as recent investigations\u00a0have revealed that those catching the thieves have become thieves over\u00a0night as a result of the temptation that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":50761,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n