Abuja – A former Chief of Army Staff, General Kenneth Minimah has been charged to court for allegedly misappropriating N13 billion meant for purchase military equipment.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) which filed the charges against Minimah and others said its action was based on the report of the Committee on the Audit of Defence Equipment Procurement in the Nigerian Armed Forces from 2007 to 2015.
Others charged along with the former Chief of Army Staff are a former Chief of Accounts and Budget of the Nigerian Army, retired Major-General A. O. Adetayo and Brigadier-General R.I.Odi, former Director, Finance and Accounts of the Nigerian Army.
The Committee on the Audit of Defence Equipment Procurement in the Nigerian Armed had in its report said that between 2010 and 2015, “several billions of naira were received by the Nigerian Army from the Federal Government for procurement of military hard-wares and were discovered to have been misappropriated by Senior Army Officers.”
The EFCC in its charges against suspects said that the audit report “revealed that the sum of Thirteen Billion, Seven Hundred and Ninety Eight Million, Six Hundred and Nineteen Thousand, Three Hundred and Nine Naira (N13,798,619,309) was misappropriated by the following persons: Lt. Gen. KTJ Minimah (rtd), the former Chief of Army Staff, Maj. Gen. A.O Adetayo, one-time Chief of Accounts and Budget, Nigerian Army and then Colonel R.I Odi, former Director, Finance and Accounts, Nigerian Army”.
“The sums were transferred from various accounts belonging to the Nigerian Army and moved to company accounts of entities that had no business relations with the Nigerian Army.
“This caused huge loss to the Nigerian Army and the Federal Government of Nigeria through the unlawful gains made by the aforementioned Officers who converted the monies for their personal use.” (vitalnews)
