- Decries selective anti-graft war, lack of transparency in defence spending
BY EDMOND ODOK – President Muhammadu Buhari has been challenged to urgently investigate the corruption allegations by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) against a military contractor, K. Salam Construction Company.
Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) made the call on Sunday while reacting to reports regarding billions of Naira cash, alongside other luxurious items, allegedly uncovered when ICPC recently raided the home of the contractor.
Executive Director, CISLAC and Head of Transparency International (TI) Chapter in Nigeria,
Mr Auwal Rafsanjani said the President must direct the ICPC to fully dig deep and expose the true source and ownership of the recovered assets/items to ensure the perpetrators and their accomplices are judiciously prosecuted and adequately sanctioned.
Rafsanjani, who expressed concern over what the Centre called unattended corruption issues in procurement processes in Nigeria, said it is unfortunate that “the nation’s Defence spending has hitherto been buried in absolute secrecy and institutionalised corruption that impede efficient services and nation’s security.”
According to him; “The fact-finding as detected by the anti-graft institution has indeed validated the persistent public outcry by CISLAC/TI Nigeria for transparency and accountability in Defence procurement and spending.
“We, without doubt, observed that the ongoing exposure is not unconnected to other entrenched symptoms of the unquantified level of systemic corruption dominating defence procurement.
“This is also seen in spending like unaccounted funds as approved for the procurement of weapons and frequent denial by successive Security Chiefs of the existence of weapons.”
The CISLAC boss said diverting defence and security funds to private pockets through bogus procurement process constitutes a serious threat to Nigeria’s defence and security sector and services, adding that it had left the security operatives ill-equipped, poorly remunerated and demoralised despite the persistent increase in Defence budgetary allocation and spending from 2011 to date.
He said the Ministry of Defence’s refusal to make its spending public has continued to frustrate efforts by Civil Society groups and other well-meaning institutions to track the nation’s investment in the military and allied agencies for accountability and transparency.
“Consequently, Defence personnel and Security operatives are rendered incapacitated from curbing violence, insurgency, banditry and kidnapping”, he further claimed
The Centre said in its press statement lamented that numerous high-profile cases of corruption have deliberately been left unattended or enjoyed presidential pardons, thereby clearly indicating lop-sidedness and a selective fight against corruption in the nation’s public sector.
Furthermore, Rafsanjani said it is on record that Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have repeatedly decried Defence corruption as doing unforgivable damage to political stability, counter-terrorism efforts, socio-economic development and well-being of ordinary citizens at all levels.
Amplifying the CSOs’ call on President Buhari to ensure all reported high-profile cases are accorded urgent priority to discourage corrupt practices in the sector, Rafsanjani said harped on the urgent need to build public confidence and a reputable foundation for the incoming administration in 2023.
Besides demanding transparency and accountability in Defence spending and a targeted probe by National Assembly into reported unaccounted spending on weapons, the CISLAC Executive Director said; “We further demand adequate legislative oversight by relevant Committees in the National Assembly into the nation’s Defence and Security procurement and spending to restore efficiency, transparency and accountability into the sector.”
