The federal government yesterday said that the report on the arms deal scandal released on Thursday was not doctored and that what is so far out, is the report of audit for the period 2011 to 2015.
There were speculations that the report was doctored after some individuals mentioned as being indicted in the report, were not listed in the officially released version.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, however, dismissed the insinuation that the report of the Presidential Committee on the Audit of Defence Equipment Procurement in the Armed Forces (2007-2015) was doctored for whatever reason.
Speaking in a statement by his special assistant on media, Segun Adeyemi, the minister explained that as soon as the necessary documents were available, the Committee would begin the audit of procurement from 2007 to 2010.
He assured that the federal government’s anti-corruption fight is non-discriminatory, and called on Nigerians to keep an open mind as events unfold.
“When the documents regarding procurement from 2007 to 2010 are available and scrutinized, the committee will then issue its report on that. The audit is being done in phases, and the report that was released on Thursday is the third of such”, he said.
“No one should attempt to distract from the seriousness of the issues involved in this audit of defence equipment procurement. It is important to note that even though the total amount spent for procurement and operations within the period were N185,843,052,564.30 and $685,349,692.49, the irregularities in the awards ensured that the military did not get value for money, with very serious consequences”, Mr. Mohammed added.
