We are taking urgent action to sanitize
defence procurements- Buhari



Press statement from the presidency
President Muhammadu Buhari said
Monday in Abuja that his administration
was taking urgent and appropriate actions
to restore order, due process and probity
to the procurement processes of the
nation's Armed Forces. Speaking at a
meeting with the British Secretary of State
for Defence, Mr. Michael Fallon, President
Buhari lamented that the procurement of
equipment for Nigeria's Armed Forces
which followed due process in the past,
had become open to corruption and shady
deals under the last administration.
"They just put foreign exchange in a briefcase
and traveled to procure equipment for the
military. That is why we have found ourselves
in the crisis we are now facing,” the President
said.
Welcoming the offer by the British Government
to assist Nigeria in defence procurements,
intelligence gathering and training, President
Buhari restated his conviction that the
international community must collaborate
more and work with greater unity of purpose
to overcome global terrorism.
“Terrorism has become very sophisticated
now. If developed nations can be attacked,
and hundreds of lives lost, how much more
developing countries?
"In the West African sub-region, Nigeria is the
main battleground of the Boko Haram
insurgency. We have made a lot of progress
against the terrorists, but we will welcome
more assistance from our friends and the
international community," the President told
Mr. Fallon.
Mr. Fallon said he was in the country to see
what more Britain could do to support Nigeria
in battling terrorism and violent extremism.
"Groups like Boko Haram don’t believe in
democracy and freedom of choice, so it’s a
common fight for us all,” he told President
Buhari.

Femi Adesina
Special Adviser to the President
(Media & Publicity)
December 21, 2015