On Thursday, Garba Shehu, the spokesperson for President Muhammadu Buhari, issued a statement saying that a committee set up to probe contracts awarded by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) from 2011 to 2015, has indicted more than 300 companies and prominent citizens, which includes serving and retired officers of the armed forces. The statement further stated that over N7 billion had been recovered and another N41 Billion is to be refunded by the indicted companies and individuals. The EFCC has also been ordered to carry out an investigation to determine whether another N75 Billion should be recovered from some of the companies for unexecuted or partially executed contracts.
Key findings from the statement released by the presidency
The statement said the committee further established that one of the indicted companies, Societe D’Equipment International, was overpaid an amount of 7.9 Million Euros and $7.09 Million.
The Committee in question is different from the committee that is investigating the Defence Arms and Equipment Procurement. However, they have discovered that there was a total disregard of key provisions of the Public Procurement Act in awarding contracts by ONSA.
Several contractors were apparently overpaid, while others were given full upfront payments contrary to their contract terms and agreements in force.
There was also evidence of payments to individuals and companies by ONSA without any contractual agreement or evidence of jobs executed. The amount received by these individuals was Seven Billion One Hundred and Four Million, Nine Hundred and Twenty Five Thousand Naira (N7,104,925,000.00).