Military Officers In Trouble As PMB Wields Big Stick

President Muhammadu Buhari had earlier told
Nigerians that he inherited an empty treasury
from the past administration of former
president Goodluck Jonathan, and vowed to go
after those that have looted the nation’s
finances.
Daily Sun; Buhari probes military, Vanguard;
FG probes N3.8trn missing oil funds, The
Punch; Okonjo-Iweala spent $2.1bn without
approval- says FG, The Nation; Four-man
panel to probe how NNPC blew N3.8trn, as
well as The Guardian; FG begins probe of
NNPC, makes the front pages of the national
dailies for Tuesday, June 30, 2015.
President Muhammadu Buhari, who was a
former General in the Nigerian army, he has
declined to attach sentiment in his fight
against corruption as he ordered the probe of
the military institution. DAILY SUN reports that
President Buhari, on Monday, June 29, ordered
the military hierarchy to account for the
number of weapons purchased to fight Boko
Haram insurgency in the North-East. He also
ordered the Military High Command to make
available records of the total amount of money
it received from the Federal Government to
fight insurgency.
Daily Sun gathered from a top military source
that the decision was taken after Mr. President
met with the service chiefs comprising the
Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Air Chief Marshal
Alex Badeh, Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-
General Kenneth Minimah, Chief of Naval Staff
(CNS), Vice Admiral Usman Jibrin, Chief of Air
Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Adesola Amosu, and
the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr.
Solomon Arase. The source said the
President’s decision might not be unconnected
with the grumbling in the military by some
personnel, who felt that their bosses and their
colleagues occupying strategic position had
taken advantage of the counter-terrorism
operations to enrich themselves.
The source, who agreed there was corruption
in the military, further disclosed that most
senior officers see the war against insurgency
as an avenue to make money, hence, lobby to
get posted to the North-East. He said unlike in
the past when soldiers lobbied to go for
international peace-keeping operations,
because of the foreign currency they will make.
He said soldiers now lobby for counter-
terrorist war in the North-East because the
profit is very huge.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation
which is the country’s major income
generating sector and also the most corrupt
government organisation has been dragged to
a hot chair as President Muhammadu Buhari
ordered an investigation into its activities for
the past years. VANGUARD reports that
governors comprising (Edo) Adams
Oshiomhole, (Kaduna) Nasir el-Rufai; (Akwa
Ibom) Udom Emmanuel; and (Gombe) Ibrahim
Dankwambo were, on Monday, June 29,
constituted into a four-man panel to probe the
NNPC. The order was given after revelations
emerged that the corporation withheld N3.8
trillion of the N8.1 trillion generated from oil
sales. The panel was also saddled with the
responsibility of looking into the disappearance
of another $2.1 billion that was allegedly
unilaterally withdrawn by the Jonathan
administration in the last six months of its
government. The revelations were made at the
end of the inaugural meeting of the new
National Economic Council, in Abuja.
The President while inaugurating the NEC
promised that the FG will abide by the
provisions of Sections 80 and 162 of the
Constitution and ensure more accountability,
transparency and integrity in the Distribution of
the Federation Account. He said all revenue
generating agencies such as NNPC, Nigeria
Customs Services, Federal Inland Revenue
Services, Nigeria Ports Authority, Central Bank
of Nigeria, Nigeria Maritime Administration and
Safety Agency and Liquefied Natural Gas
amongst others shall comply with stipulated
Financial Regulations and Administrative
Instructions in their remittances into the
Consolidated Revenue Fund.
Meanwhile, prior to the start of the NEC
meeting, Prof. Sylvester Monye, who served as
special adviser on monitoring and evaluation to
ex-president Jonathan, in a live Channels
Television programme monitored in Lagos,
cautioned the new administration against
sustaining the language of opposition while in
office. He said their continued propaganda
could negatively impact on the sound
economic indicators transferred by Dr.
Jonathan. He said the Jonathan administration
left behind $1.5 billion in the Sovereign Wealth
Fund and another $2.09 billion in the Excess
Crude Account.
Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, former minister of
finance and coordinating minister of the
economy under ex-President Goodluck
Jonathan, may have landed herself in trouble
as THE PUNCH reports that the ex-minister
has been accused of spending $2.1 billion from
the Excess Crude Account without
authorisation. The accusation was made on
Monday, June 29, by the National Economic
Council, chaired by Vice-President Yemi
Osinbajo. The council said it looked at the
numbers for the ECA, the last time the former
minister reported to the council, adding that in
the minutes taken in November 2014, she
reported there was $4.1 billion.
The Federal Government in a reaction
inaugurated a panel to probe the NNPC and
the ECA between 2012 and May, 2015. The
members of the panel are Adams Oshiomhole,
Nasir el-Rufai; Udom Emmanuel; and Ibrahim
Dankwambo.
Oshiomhole, el-Rufai, Emmanuel and the
Zamfara State Governor, Abdulazeez Yari,
jointly briefed State House correspondents
after the NEC’s 58th meeting in Abuja.
Oshiomhole said: “Today, the Accountant-
General Office reported we have $2.0bn. Which
means the honourable minister spent $2.1bn
without authority of the NEC and that money
was not distributed to states, it was not paid
to the three tiers of government.” He added
that the unauthorised spending, according to
the economic council, is among the several
anomalies discovered in the management of
the nation’s economy between 2012 and May
2015. He said within this period, the NNPC
was said to have received a total of N8.1
trillion but remitted only N4.3trillion.
Yari through the Director of Funds, Office of
the Accountant-General of the Federation, Mr.
M.K. Dikwa, confirmed that the council
members received the report of the ECA and
unremitted funds by the NNPC. He said: “On
that line, a four-man committee consisting of
the governors of Edo, Gombe, Kaduna and
Akwa Ibom states was constituted to go
through the books of the NNPC and Excess
Crude as well as the Federation Account. The
four-man committee is to check the books of
the NNPC, especially the issue of excess crude
and what is not remitted into the federation’s
account.”
Meanwhile, the Buhari-led administration in its
continued efforts to ensure all stolen monies
are returned to the nation’s coffers, THE
NATION reports that a four-man panel
comprising Governors Adams Oshiomhole
(Edo), Ibrahim Dankwambo (Gombe), Udom
Emmanuel (Akwa Ibom) and Nasir El-Rufai
(Kaduna) was on Monday, June 29, constituted
by the federal government to investigate how
the NNPC blew the sum of N3.8 trillion. This
was disclosed to newsmen yesterday, by
Oshiomhole after the National Economic
Council meeting chaired by Vice President
Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The Edo governor, who was accompanied by
the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum
and Zamfara State Governor Abdulaziz Yari,
Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai and
Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom, said
the figure was contained in the reports
presented to NEC by the NNPC and the office
of the Accountant General of the Federation.
He said the reports showed that N8.1 trillion
generated from oil sales during the period was
not remitted to the Federation account, adding
that only N4.3 trillion was deposited by the
NNPC.
THE GUARDIAN reports that governor
Oshiomhole, revealed that this is the first time
they are having a National Economic Council
meeting in which under the instructions of the
President, NNPC and the Office of the
Accountant General of the Federation were
compelled to provide information in black and
white on issues regarding the total sales of
Nigeria’s crude from 2012 to May 2015.
The governor said it was also discovered in
the reports that former Minister of Finance
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala spent $2.1 billion from
the Excess Crude Account without approval
between November last year and May 2015.
Oshiomhole faulted the NNPC for spending
without appropriation, noting that if the federal
government cannot spend without
appropriation, why should any agency do so?