A Coalition of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Nigeria has said all questions related to the ongoing probe on procurement of arms by the National Assembly should be directed to the Ministry of Defence, and not the immediate past Service Chiefs.
Addressing journalists in Abuja on Friday, the Convener of the coalition and president, Good Governance Advocacy Initiative, Mustapha Tijani, urged Nigerians to disregard the allegation of misappropriation of arms funds against former Service Chiefs.
“We wish to demand that the Ministry of Defence that is directly responsible for such transactions come out clean on this matter, rather than painting pictures that leave the public confused, thereby fuelling unfounded conspiracy theories,” Tijani said.
He argued that the ongoing probe of $1bn arms deal was a mission to malign the ‘hard-earned integrity’ of the former chiefs who, he said, devoted their time to serve the nation; adding that right from when the immediate past Service Chiefs were in office, it was clear that several individuals were after them to bring their names into national disrepute.
