•Presidential panel’s report ready

From Molly Kilete, Abuja

There are indications that former Chiefs of Army Staff (COAS) may be invited for interrogation and possible prosecution by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over their roles in the purchase of arms and ammunition for the counter-insurgency operations in the North-East.
This is coming just as Daily Sun gathered that the committee set up by President Muhammadu Buhari to probe the procurement of arms is set to submit its long-awaited report on the army.
Top military sources confirmed that the report would be presented to the president in about two weeks’ time.
The report was said to have been delayed by the discoveries the committee made during its investigation, prompting it to widen and extend its probe to other areas.
The committee, which was initially billed to submit its findings on the army in April, commenced investigation in the Navy in May. The committee could not submit its report on schedule because of the huge fraud it reportedly discovered. The panel had to invite more officers to appear before it.
The officers who appeared before the panel headed by Air Vice Marshall JON Ode (retd) were said to have given useful information that might lead to the arrest of some former chiefs of army staff in the coming days.
Daily Sun gathered that the committee shelved its plan to invite former army chiefs to appear before it due to what a source described as the overwhelming evidence of their roles in the arms deal.
The source, who said the committee was already putting finishing touches to its final report, added: “There is really no need to invite the former chiefs of army staff because what we gathered from those we interviewed shows that these chiefs played greater roles in the illegal purchase of arms using various vendors, contractors and many other dubious means to perpetrate their illegal act.
“At the beginning, we thought of inviting them but after chatting with those we invited that had questions to answer, the revelation they made was mind-boggling and I can assure you that by the time we come out with our report, Nigerians would be in for another shocker seeing how some of our army officers enriched themselves with blood money.”
Daily Sun also gathered that more army officers would be retired after the presentation of the panel’s report.
The final report is expected to be submitted to the National Security Adviser, Major-General Babagana Mungono, who will then present it to President Buhari for implementation.
Daily Sun gathered that officers from units, commands and formations of the army in some states where huge amounts of money were approved with little or nothing on ground to show for the disbursements appeared before the presidential committee.
Money running into billions of naira, it was learnt, was diverted into areas only the former army chiefs could explain.
The coming days would also witness the trial of some of the former army chiefs, Daily Sun was told.
Daily Sun also learnt that besides alleged fraud in the procurement of arms and ammunition for the counter-terrorism operation in the North-East, the committee uncovered huge fraud in the purchase of equipment for military operations in the Niger Delta as well as international peace-keeping missions in different countries of the world.
A source, who did not want to be mentioned, told Daily Sun how some military officers allegedly made money from security operations.
The source alleged that some of the officers engaged in procurement of fake weapons for the military.
The source added that some of the weapons were procured from China without following the right channel.