The National Security Adviser (NSA), Babagana Monguno made some clarifications about his comments about some funds meant to buy arms not being accounted for by the former service chiefs.
According to him, he never said funds meant for the purchase of arms went missing under the leadership of the immediate past service chiefs adding that he was quoted out of context.
He made that statement during his interview with the BBC Hausa where he said that the newly appointed service chiefs did not meet the funds approved for arms purchase when they assumed office in January this year.
A statement released to clarify what he said reads;
We would like to state that the NSA was quoted out of context as he did not categorically say that funds meant for arms procurement were missing under the former Service Chiefs as reported or transcribed by some media outlets from the BBC interview.
During the interview, the National Security Adviser only reiterated the Federal Government’s commitment to deal decisively with insecurity and stated President Muhammadu Buhari’s continued commitment to providing all necessary support to the Armed Forces, including the provision of arms and equipment.
In the interview, the National Security Adviser clearly informed the BBC reporter that Mr President has provided enormous resources for arms procurement, but the orders were either inadequate or yet to be delivered and that did not imply that the funds were misappropriated under the former Service Chiefs.
The NSA also informed the reporter that Mr President is following up on the procurement process as is usual with contracts relating to military equipment, in most cases the process involves manufacturing, due diligence and tedious negotiations that may change delivery dates.
As the National Security Adviser conveyed during the Aso Villa Media Briefing, questions relating to Defence procurement should be channelled to the Ministry of Defence.
Source: ghgossip.com
