The National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, a retired Major General, has constituted an investigative committee on the procurement of arms and ammunitions by the armed forces from 2007.

This is in line with the presidential directive given to him according to a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina.

According to the press release, the investigative committee will seek to identify irregularities in the procurement process of the armed forces and also make recommendations for streamlining the procurement process in the future.

“The establishment of the investigative committee is in keeping with President Buhari’s determination to stamp out corruption and irregularities in Nigeria’s public service. It comes against the background of the myriad of challenges that the Nigerian Armed Forces have faced in the course of ongoing counter-insurgency operations in the Northeast, including the apparent deficit in military platforms with its attendant negative effects of troops’ morale,” the statement noted.

It added also that the committee would investigate allegations of non-adherence to correct equipment procurement procedures and the exclusion of relevant logistics branches from arms procurement under past administrations, which, it observed had resulted in the acquisition of sub-standard and unserviceable equipment.

Members of the committee are J.O.N. Ode, a retired Air Vice Marshal, who will be chairman, J.A. Aikhomu, a retired Air Air Admiral, E. Ogbor, a retired Air Admiral, L. Adekagun, a retired Brigadier General, M. Aminu-Kano, a retired Brigadier General, and N. Rimtip, a retired Brigadier General.

Others are T.D. Ikoli, a Commodore, U. Mohammed, a retired Air Commodore, I. Shafi’i, an Air Commodore, A.A. Ariyibi, a Colonel, C.A. Oriaku, a retired Group Captain, Ibrahim Magu, an Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, official and Y.I. Shalangwa, a Brigadier General

Nigerian Soldiers have over the years decried the obsolete quality of weapons at their disposal which they identified as the cause of their serial defeat in the hands of insurgents.

Those who have openly expressed their grievances have been accused of mutiny by the military authorities.