Former Chief of Army Staff, General Kenneth Minimah (Rtd) has refunded the sum of N1.7b to the EFCC last weekend from the money meant to equip the military to fight against Boko Haram.
Besides, there were indications that another former Chief of Army Staff and some ex-military officers might be arraigned in court for alleged corrupt practices relating to “phoney†arms contracts.
The legal unit of the EFCC is fine-tuning charges against the suspects.
But a status report on Gen. Minimah, who was the Army Chief from January 2014 to July 2015, indicates that he has returned some cash to the EFCC.
READ ALSO: After allegedly looting the treasury, Patience Jonathan begs EFCC to settle out of court
The refund followed extensive investigation by the anti-graft agency on the report and recommendations of the Presidential Committee on Audit of Defence Equipment Procurement (CADEP).
CADEP had uncovered “irregularities†in the procurement and award of contracts in the Army and suspicious transactions in the accounts of the Defence Industry Corporation of Nigeria (DICON) during Gen. Minimah’s tenure.
A top source, who spoke in confidence, said: “We have interrogated Gen. Minimah and he has started refunding some funds. So far, he has refunded about N1.7billion in two tranches to the EFCC.
“So far, he has cooperated with us and we are hopeful that he will still make more refunds, in line with some contracts awarded by the Army.
“But we are likely to arraign another Chief of Army Staff and some ex-military officers in court soon following the conclusion of a comprehensive investigation on them. We are expecting relevant advice from our legal unit.â€
The money was siphoned through phony contracts awarded to self with inflated costs sometimes with nothing on ground to show for the contract awarded.
www.sojworld.com © February 27, 2018
Leave a Reply