The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Sunday, flew the former Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal Adeola Amosu; AVM JB Adigun, Chief of Account and Budget, NAF; and an Air Commodore in the Accounts and Finance Department of NAF to Lagos in furtherance of the investigation.
Adigun and the other air force officer were arrested penultimate week when Amosu was picked up in Abuja.
It was gathered that the trio were flown into Lagos in an air force aircraft on Sunday and discreetly kept in a hotel.
It was learnt that the EFCC brought them to Lagos to help in sorting out some issues concerning the investigation.
“The anti-graft agency brought Amosu, Adigun and the other senior officer to Lagos on Sunday in an air force plane. They were kept in a hotel. Their presence in Lagos is to ease investigation and authenticate some of the assets traced to them. Some officials of some institutions will be present at a meeting with EFCC operatives where issues concerning some of the assets traced to them will be sorted out and probably handed over to the Federal Government,” an influential source said.
Amosu, Adigun and the other officer are being investigated over 10 NAF contracts totalling $930,500,690 awarded to Societe D’ Equipments Internationaux (SEI) Nig. Ltd. between January 2014 and February 2015.
The award letters, according to the arms probe panel, contained misleading delivery dates, suggesting fraudulent intent in the award process.
Operatives are also grilling the ex-chief of army staff and the two senior officers over the procurement of two used Mi-24V Helicopters instead of the recommended Mi- 35M series at the cost of $136,944,000.
The helicopters were discovered to be excessively priced and not operationally airworthy at the time of delivery.
The arms probe panel established that a brand new unit of Mi-24V Helicopter goes for about $30 million.
The helicopters were delivered without rotor blades and upgrade accessories. The trio is also being grilled over the procurement of four used Alpha-Jets for the NAF at the cost of $7,180,000.
Whereas NAF paid for four used Alpha-Jets, the panel confirmed that only two of the Alpha-Jet aircraft were ferried to Nigeria after cannibalisation of engines from the NAF fleet.
This is contrary to the written assertion of Amosu to the former National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki, that all the four procured Alpha-Jets aircraft were delivered to NAF.
They are also being investigated in the procurement of 36D6 Low Level Air Defence Radar for NAF, which was awarded to GAT Techno Dynamics Ltd in April 2014 at the cost of $33 million under his watch.
The arms panel averred that the radars were excessively priced as a complete set of such radars goes for $6 million.
As officers once responsible for financial matters of NAF, they are expected to shed light on the $3.3 million fraudulently included in the contract agreement as VAT and withholding tax and subsequently paid into the bank accounts of Spacewebs Interservices Ltd and Delfina Oil and Gas Ltd.
It was established that $2 million from the proceeds was transferred to Mono Marine Corporation Nig. Ltd, which is jointly owned by some principal characters in the deal.
Acting on the recommendations made by the 13-man presidential committee auditing arms procurement between 2007 and 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari had ordered the EFCC to conduct further investigation on the indictment of Amosu, former Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh (rtd); Air Marshal MD Umar (Rtd), Maj- Gen. ER Chioba (Rtd), AVM IA Balogun (Rtd), AVM AG Tsakr (Rtd), AVM AG Idowu (Rtd), AVM AM Mamu, AVM OT Oguntoyinbo, and AVM T Omenyi.
Others were: AVM JB Adigun, AVM RA Ojuawo, AVM JA Kayode-Beckley, Air Cdre SA Yushau (Rtd), Air Cdre AO Ogunjobi, Air Cdre GMD Gwani, Air Cdre SO Makinde, Air Cdre AY Lassa, Col. N Ashinze and Lt Col. MS Dasuki (Rtd).
Leave a Reply