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The Ministry of Defence has purchased equipment for the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Navy and the Defence Intelligence Agency worth $99.5m (N37.9bn), out of the $1bn approved by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.),
Sunday PUNCH can authoritatively report.
Buhari, on April 4, 2018, was said to have approved the $1bn fund for military equipment, following a meeting with security chiefs at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Then Minister of Defence, Brig. Gen. Mansur Dan-Ali, spoke with State House correspondents after the meeting, saying, “Of recent, our leader, President Muhammadu Buhari, gave approval for the purchase of more equipment for the military, worth $1bn.”
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Speaking after submissions by the BPP, the chairman of the committee, Nasir Ali Ahmed, said the acting Director-General of the institute, Fabian Okonkwo, was culpable in the violation of the Public Procurement Act 2007 by arbitrarily cancelling and awarding contracts without recourse to BPP and the laws.
“We’ll use you as an example. I don’t think any other DG has been punished before. I can assure you that every other penalty that is in the Procurement Act, you’ll face it.
“You can’t sit in your office and decide on who gets what. I’m happy that the board of PRODA is here and is listening to the rot that’s happening at the institute.
This followed a motion of urgent public importance moved by Rep. Henry Nwauba at the plenary on Wednesday.
Presenting the motion, Nwauba said that some serious management problems has emerged consequent to the suspension of the Director-General/CEO and Chairman, PRODA Governing Board, Comrade Onjeh Daniel.
He recalled that the Federal Government suspended Daniel through the Minister, Science and Technology in a letter dated 17″ November 2020, ref No. – FMST/PARA/110/S.1/111/T.
According to him, after the suspension, the situation at the Institute degenerated to alleged deception and fraud in the 2020 procurement process, indiscriminate suspension of officers and unprofessional victimization and conduct.
The House of Representatives at the plenary yesterday directed its Committee on Public Procurement to investigate allegations of procurement deception, staff victimisation and the ongoing management problem in Project Development Institute (PRODA) Enugu, which is under the Federal Ministry of Technology.