A really revealing report has shown how Nigeria's political elites hid behind the military for years to loot the nation.
According to Premium Times,
a new report has highlighted how Nigeria’s political elites for years
hid under the cover of the country’s military to steal billions of
dollars that would have been channeled into improving the living
conditions of the citizens.
Corrupt officials over the years exploited the excessive secrecy of
the country’s defence budget to rip off the nation, says the report
released Thursday in Abuja by Transparency International Defence And
Security.
The 15-years-old war against Boko Haram insurgency has helped
pushed up Nigeria’s defence budget and corresponding increase in
corruption within the sector, the report said.
A former National Security Adviser, NSA, Sambo Dasuki, is currently
standing trial for allegedly mismanaging funds meant for the
procurement of weapons to prosecute the war against Boko Haram.
The report repeatedly mentioned Mr. Dasuki’s case as an example of
how the country’s defence sector leaves room for exploitation.
The report also mentioned former President Goodluck Jonathan and
the late military dictator, Sani Abacha, as some of the nation’s leaders
who profited from the inherent weakness in the sector.
According to the report, the stealing is usually done through
inflating of procurement contract values and creating of “phantom”
defence contracts.
“Such contracts are used as a vehicle for money laundering:
facilitated via weak or corrupted Nigerian banks, illicit financial
flows are often hidden in property in the UK, United States, South
Africa and Dubai,” the report says.
The stealing is done with the active connivance of the country’s military leaders.
“With oil prices at a record low, defence has provided new and lucrative opportunities for the country’s corrupt kleptocrats,” says the report.
“Former military chiefs have stolen as much as US $15 billion –
a sum equivalent to half of Nigeria’s foreign currency reserves –
through fraudulent arms procurement deals.”
The report, which was prepared in partnership with the Civil
Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, CISLAC, is titled, Weaponising
Transparency: Defence Procurement Reform As a Counterterrorism Strategy
in Nigeria.
Corruption in the defence sector, according to the report, is a
major threat to Nigeria’s internal security and political stability.
“Largely unaddressed, it has weakened Nigerian counterterrorism capacity whilst strengthening Boko Haram,” it said.
The report, though acknowledged President Muhammadu Buhari
administration’s effort to tackle corruption in the country’s defence
sector.
But it warned that, “Only a holistic reform agenda can deliver
the deep, systemic changes and improvements in transparency and
accountability needed to prevent the next US $15 billion quietly leaving
Nigeria through the back door”.
“Since coming to power in May 2015, President Buhari has taken
some bold action in tackling defence sector corruption. Central to his
approach have been two ad hoc, temporary audit committees: one
investigating spending by the Office of the National Security Adviser
and one investigating defence arms and equipment procurement.
“Taking on the defence establishment was a significant move:
the evidence uncovered by these probes revealed that several of the
country’s former military chiefs, using dozens of companies, together
stole as much as US $15 billion.
“President Buhari’s anti-corruption drive is a rare example of
senior Nigerian defence and security officials being exposed to criminal
investigation. By signalling that military impunity is not without
limit, it is undoubtedly a positive step forward,” it said.
State governors in Nigeria are also known to have used the
secretive “security votes” as an avenue to steal public funds, the
report said.
The report recommends a unified anti-corruption strategy for the
defence sector, the extension of public access to defence and security
information, and the monitoring of confidential procurements as some of
the ways of tackling the problem.
Other recommendations include the sharpening of international focus
on fighting corruption in Nigeria, plucking off money laundering
loopholes in banks, the extension of whistle-blower protection to cover
the defence sector, and regulation of secretive security votes.
“Declassifying how the security vote funds have been spent,
after a two-year information embargo, could also enable citizen
oversight,” the report said.
Katherine Dixon, Director Transparency International Defence and
Security, called for a quick action against corruption in the Nigeria’s
defence sector.
“Corruption in Nigeria is not just a problem for Nigerians, but
a concern for all of those looking to tackle violent extremism around
the world.
“Entering into blind defence deals that ignore the rampant
corruption in Nigeria’s defence sector means international partners
could inadvertently be giving rise to Boko Haram. Likewise, the doors to
allow corrupt officials to launder their ill-gotten gains out of
Nigeria should be slammed shut, through the active denial of visas and
other domestic legislation that targets corrupt money.
“With Buhari’s first term soon to end, the international
community may soon find itself without a Presidential ally in this fight
– now is the time to act,” Ms. Dixon said.
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