Buhari Orders ‘Special Promotion’ Of Arms Probe Panel Members

President Muhammadu Buhari has given “special promotions” to members of the Committee on Audit of Defense Equipment Procurement, CADEP, who are serving officers in the military.

According to documents seen by PREMIUM TIMES, the special promotion was in recognition of their “high level of dedication, immense commitment and honesty while serving in the Committee”.

The affected officers were promoted by a single rank.

Mr. Buhari had in August 2015 directed the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, to convene a 13-member CADEP to investigate the procurement of hardware and munitions in the Armed Forces between 2007 and 2015.

Of the 13 members, five are in active service, and have been promoted, PREMIUM TIMES confirmed.

They are Commodore T. D. Ikoli; Air Cdre I. Shafi’i; Col A.A. Ariyibi; Brig Gen Y.I. Shalangwa who is the Secretary.

The special promotions will be promulgated in the Armed Forces Orders and the Federal Government gazette “in due course”, a letter given to one of the five officers and seen by this newspaper, revealed.

The CADEP submitted its third interim report in July 2016, detailing how former senior military officers, political appointees and private individuals diverted funds meant for arms, while the deadly Boko Haram insurgency continued to ravage the North East.

Among the big names the report indicted were former Chief of Army Staff, Azubuike Ihejirika and Kenneth Minimah, who served at different times under President Goodluck Jonathan.

But the panel’s work became controversial after critics raised concerns with the exclusion of Abdulrahman Dambazau, also a former army chief during the review period.

Mr. Dambazau currently serves as the Minister of Interior and is a close ally of Mr. Buhari.

The government claimed Mr. Dambazau’s tenure as army chied was not covered by the report, a claim dispelled by a PREMIUM TIMES’ fact-check.

Many of the indicted persons are now facing trial. Also, the Nigerian Army has compulsorily retired its officers indicted by the arms procurement probe panel.

The letter seen by PREMIUM TIMES says the “special promotion” was approved by the “C-in-C”, referring to President Buhari, and was ratified by the Army Council.

It was not immediately clear how the president compensated the retired committee members.