The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has detained the immediate-past Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal Adesola Amosu.
Retired last year alongside other military chiefs, Amosu is allegedly detained over allegation of corruption in arms procurement during his tenure.
An EFCC official said Amosu was arrested on Wednesday.
President Muhammadu Buhari recently directed EFCC to investigate the former air chief and other serving and retired military officers over alleged misconduct established against them.
Among those to be investigated are the former National Security Adviser Sambo Dasuki, former Chief of Defence Staff, Marshal Alex Badeh and another former Chief of Air Staff Mohammed Umar.
Dasuki is currently facing charges of alleged $2.1 billion arms procurement deal scandal.
A panel investigating arms procurement during the Goodluck Jonathan administration had submitted an interim report to Buhari alleging that equipment procurement in the Air Force during Amosu’s reign was characterised by fraud.
“The procurement processes were arbitrarily carried out and generally characterized by irregularities and fraud,” the panel said. “In many cases, the procured items failed to meet the purposes they were procured for, especially the counter-insurgency efforts in the North East.”
In details made public by presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu, on January 15, the panel said, “A major procurement activity undertaken by ONSA for NAF was that concerning the contracts awarded to Societe D’Equipment Internationaux (SEI) Nig Ltd.
“Between January 2014 and February 2015, NAF awarded 10 contracts totalling $930,500,690 to SEI Nig Ltd.
“Letters of award and End User Certificates for all the contracts issued by NAF and ONSA respectively did not reflect the contract sums. Rather, these were only found in the vendor’s invoices, all dated March 19, 2015.
Additionally, some of the award letters contained misleading delivery dates suggesting fraudulent intent in the award process. The observed discrepancies are in clear contravention of extant procurement regulations.
“The SEI contracts included procurement of two used Mi-24V Helicopters instead of the recommended Mi-35M series at the cost of $136,944,000.
“However, it was confirmed that the helicopters were excessively priced and not operationally airworthy at the time of delivery. A brand new unit of such helicopters goes for about $30m.
Furthermore, the helicopters were delivered without rotor blades and upgrade accessories.
“Additionally, the helicopters were undergoing upgrade while being deployed for operation in the North East without proper documentation. It was further established that as at date, only one of the helicopters is in service while the other crashed and claimed the lives of two NAF pilots.
“The Committee established that ONSA also funded the procurement of 4 used Alpha-Jets for the NAF at the cost of $7,180,000. However, it was confirmed that only 2 of the Alpha-Jet aircraft were ferried to Nigeria after cannibalization of engines from NAF fleet.
“This is contrary to the written assertion of the former Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal AN Amosu to the former NSA that all the 4 procured Alpha-Jets aircraft were delivered to the NAF.
“The non-militarisation of the Alpha-Jets made them unsuitable for deployment to the North East and they are currently deployed only for training at NAF Kainji.
“Furthermore, the procurement of the Alpha-Jets was contrary to the recommendation of the assessment team. The Committee found that the conduct of Air Marshal Amosu was deliberately misleading and unpatriotic.
“The contract for the procurement of 36D6 Low Level Air Defence Radar for the NAF was awarded to GAT Techno Dynamics Ltd in April 2014 at the cost of $33m and was funded by ONSA.
“The Committee established that the radars were excessively priced as a complete set of such radars (comprising 6 radars including the Control Centre) goes for $6m averagely. The Committee observed that the radars were delivered without the vital component of Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) that distinguishes between own and adversary aircraft, which has significantly degraded the operational capabilities of the NAF in the North East.
“It was further observed that $3.3m was 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.
“The Committee further established that $2m from the proceeds was transferred to Mono Marine Corporation Nig Ltd, which is jointly owned by principal characters in this deal. The Committee opined that the infractions of extant regulations by these companies were clearly intended to defraud.
“It was established that between September 2009 and May 2015, the NAF expended about N15bn on the maintenance of its Alpha-Jets, C-130H aircraft and Mi-24V/35P helicopters. Out of this amount N4,402,687,569.41 was paid out for contracts not executed.
“It was also observed that in carrying out these maintenance activities, contracts worth over N2.5bn were awarded to Syrius Technologies, a Ukrainian company that was not registered in Nigeria. Regrettably, in spite of these expenditures, the status of NAF fleet remained operationally appalling as only 3 Alpha-Jets, 2 C-130H and one each of Mi-24V and Mi-35P were serviceable as at 28 May, 2015.
“In October 2013, NAF awarded contracts to DICON for the supply of weapons and ammunition worth N599,118,000. However, only 2 of the 7 items contracted were delivered to NAF while the outstanding 5 items remained undelivered despite repeated requests to DICON.
“The Committee also found that the delivered ammunition were about 40 years old, thereby casting doubt on their shelf life. The failure of DICON to fully execute the contract and the delivery of aged ammunition diminished the capacity of the NAF in North East operation.
“The Committe uncovered insider dealings by military officers in procurement activities undertaken by ONSA and the NAF. The officers were found to have misused or abused their offices for personal gains by influencing award of contracts to private companies in which they have substantial interests.
“For instance, an officer serving in the ONSA used his office to secure 2 contracts for his company, Geonel Integrated Services Ltd, for the protection of 20 Dams and Presidential Air Fleet security for N6,250,000,000 and $5m respectively.
“Furthermore, some NAF officers used their companies to collect VAT and With Holding Tax that were never remitted to FIRS while another officer was found to have cross-transferred about N500m between a NAF company, Aeronautical Engineering and Technical Services Limited, SkyExperts Nig Ltd and Huzee Nig Ltd, companies in which he had personal interests.
“It would be recalled that in its First Interim Report, the Committee on Audit of Defence Equipment established that N643bn and $2.1bn interventions were received for defence procurements by DHQ and the Services between 2007 and 2015.
“In continuation of its assignment, the Committee has so far established that the nation spent about N29bn and $2bn on NAF procurement activities alone.”
-PremiumTimes
