Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has said there is no
truth in the insinuation that the report of the Presidential Committee
on the Audit of Defence Equipment Procurement in the Armed Forces
(2007-2015) was doctored.
In a statement issued by his Special Adviser, Segun Adeyemi in Abuja
today July 15th, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed,
said what has been released so far is the report of the audit covering
the period 2011 to 2015, adding that the Committee would commence the
audit of procurement from 2007 to 2010 as soon as the necessary
documents are available.
”When the documents regarding procurement from 2007 to 2010 are
available and scrutinized, the committee will then issue its report on
that. The audit is being done on phases, and the report that was
released on Thursday is the third of such,” the Minister said.
He assured that the Federal Government’s anti-corruption fight is
non-discriminatory, and called on Nigerians to keep an open mind as
events unfold.
”No one should attempt to distract from the seriousness of the issues
involved in this audit of defence equipment procurement. It is important
to note that even though the total amount spent for procurement and
operations within the period were N185,843,052,564.30 and
$685,349,692.49, the irregularities in the awards ensured that the
military did not get value for money, with very serious
consequences,”Lai said