ICPC boss says military sabotaging security, reveals billions ex-service chiefs, contractors stole

The ICPC has revealed how corruption in the military has directly and indirectly affected the effort the federal government is making to end insecurity in Nigeria.

According to the commission’s chairman, research and investigations by the National Security Agency and the ICPC have shown that public sector corruption directly and indirectly enable insecurity, and, sometimes, complement it.

Bolaji Owasanoye was speaking at the ‘National Policy Dialogue on Corruption and Insecurity in Nigeria’, an event held at the ICPC headquarters in Abuja on Friday.

“Some former military and security personnel are being investigated by the ICPC and our sister agency (the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission) for embezzlement of funds allocated to security,” he said at a

“For example, a former head of one of the arms of the military, in the twilight of his tenure, deposited the sum of N4bn from military budget into the accounts of two companies where he is the beneficial owner and sole signatory.

“The proceeds were used to purchase properties in Abuja in the names of cronies and proxies. Some of the properties paid for by his service were also fraudulently converted to his use.

“ICPC’s prosecution of this high ranking officer to recover all the implicated assets was strangely and perversely frustrated by a recently retired High Court judge who decided to forfeit some of the assets to FGN and the rest left to the suspect.

“While the commission has filed a notice of appeal, this strange development aggravates an already bad situation and escalates insecurity and impunity.”

He cited another case under investigation— theft of part of special intervention fund approved for security operations. Some civil servants in the line ministry transferred about N1bn to four shell companies.

“A special investigative team under the leadership of NSA and ICPC recovered some of the diverted assets, including state of the art building located in Abuja and over N220m cash. Investigation on this matter is still ongoing.

“In fact, a clinical diagnosis of the insecurity menace in the country reveals that to effectively combat insecurity, we require the collaborative efforts of security agencies (the military, intelligence, police, customs, Prisons, others), as well as law enforcement and anti-corruption agencies.

There are also ongoing investigations into military contracts spending.

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The commission arrested a military contractor that received over a period of less than 10 years cumulative sum of about N6bn from the Nigerian Army.

“The commission’s recovery of huge cash sums in local and foreign currencies, luxury cars, customised mobile phones, designer watches, including three Rolexes, as well as property documents from the premises of the contractor, underscore the corruption that often attend military procurement,” he added.

“In fact, a clinical diagnosis of the insecurity menace in the country reveals that to effectively combat insecurity, we require the collaborative efforts of security agencies (the military, intelligence, police, customs, prisons, others), as well as law enforcement and anti-corruption agencies.