The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has seized 29 properties from the immediate past Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Adesola Amosu; a former Chief of Accounts and Budgeting in NAF, Air Vice Marshal Jacob Adigun (retired) and a former Director of Finance and Budget, Air Commodore Olugbenga Gbadebo (retired).
The EFCC confiscated no fewer than 11 assets from Amosu, 12 from Adigun and 6 from Gbadebo and all three men are set to be arraigned this week by the anti-graft agency. Amosu raised two bank drafts and returned over N2.3 billion as well as various properties in light of the allegations. Some of the properties seized from Amosu included a house on Adeyemo Alakija Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, worth N250m; a duplex at House 11, Peace Court Estate, GRA, Ikeja, Lagos, worth N110m; a N40m property located at NAF Harmony Estate, Asokoro Base and a five-bedroom house at Valley NAF Estate, Port Harcourt, worth N33m as disclosed by The Punch newspaper.
Property worth N9.6 billion was seized from Adigun including a 35-room uncompleted hotel on Salt Lake Street, Maitama, Abuja; a parcel of land located on Bourdillon Street, Ikoyi, Lagos; a block of 12 service flats, located on Agodogba Street, Park View Estate, Ikoyi, said to be worth N1.8 billion and a quarry in the Bwari area of Abuja worth about $694,000. The assets seized from Gbadebo include a fish farm worth N10m; a N20m poultry, located at Musa Close, Oyibo Ayobu, Lagos and a school known as Bloomsville International School, Divine Estate, Isheri-Olofin, off the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
The retired military officers were accused of diverting N21.4 billion of public funds in 2014 along with several other firms. The aforementioned suspects allegedly siphoned these funds by awarding themselves phantom contracts under the aliases of some of the firms also mentioned in the case. These funds were allocated to the Nigerian Air Force for the procurement of arms, fighter jets and other equipment. Amosu was arrested on a different charge in January along with his predecessor Alex Badeh for the non-specification of procurement costs, absence of contract agreements and for the non-adherence to provisions of the public procurement act in general. The case also encompassed the payment of N4 billion worth of unexecuted contracts and the purchase of used older helicopters rather than the ones budgeted for and more.
The figures being brandished in these alleged cases are astonishing and one has to wonder how these leading military officials are able to afford such lavish properties on their allowances. These allegations come on the back of ‘Dasuki gate,’ the scandal centered around the alleged diversion of $2 billion by former National Security Adviser Sambo Dasuki and the recent reports revealing the acquisition of two properties in Dubai by Tukur Buratai, current chief of Army staff. It’s anyone’s guess the depth to which corruption runs in the military. It is evident that our military leaders, in collaboration with elected officials who overlook these events, have handicapped the country’s military capabilities over the years and are responsible for the country’s inability to curb the Boko Haram insurgency. More importantly, Niger Delta militants are similarly proving elusive to the forces despite being relatively outnumbered. Anti-corruption is the mantra of the current administration and a number of high profile suspects have been arraigned and questioned so far but the rate of conviction for those at the helm of affairs is still astonishingly low.
The anti-corruption fight has to carry on long after this current administration and it is not enough to tackle those who have diverted public funds, but comprehensive institutional reforms to reduce loopholes, strengthen the implementation of checks and balances and changing incentives away from corruption are all needed to produce a sustainable system.
