We are taking urgent action to sanitize defence procurements- Buhari

Press statement from the presidency
President Muhammadu Buhari said Monday
in Abuja that his administration was taking
urgent and appropriate actions to restore
order, due process and probity to the
procurement processes of the nation's
Armed Forces. Speaking at a meeting with
the British Secretary of State for Defence,
Mr. Michael Fallon, President Buhari
lamented that the procurement of
equipment for Nigeria's Armed Forces
which followed due process in the past, had
become open to corruption and shady deals
under the last administration.
"They just put foreign exchange in a briefcase and
traveled to procure equipment for the military.
That is why we have found ourselves in the crisis
we are now facing,” the President said.
Welcoming the offer by the British Government to
assist Nigeria in defence procurements,
intelligence gathering and training, President
Buhari restated his conviction that the
international community must collaborate more
and work with greater unity of purpose to
overcome global terrorism.
“Terrorism has become very sophisticated now. If
developed nations can be attacked, and hundreds
of lives lost, how much more developing
countries?
"In the West African sub-region, Nigeria is the
main battleground of the Boko Haram insurgency.
We have made a lot of progress against the
terrorists, but we will welcome more assistance
from our friends and the international
community," the President told Mr. Fallon.
Mr. Fallon said he was in the country to see what
more Britain could do to support Nigeria in
battling terrorism and violent extremism.
"Groups like Boko Haram don’t believe in
democracy and freedom of choice, so it’s a
common fight for us all,” he told President
Buhari.
Femi Adesina
Special Adviser to the President
(Media & Publicity)
December 21, 2015