FG spent N63.6bn on military equipment in seven months – Report
The Federal Government has spent no less than N63.6 billion to procure various equipment and ammunition for the Nigerian military and the Office of the National Security Adviser between January and July 2024, Saturday PUNCH has learned.
The Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, on Wednesday, said the Armed Forces of Nigeria requires 200 million rounds of ammunition annually for its operations.
While noting that this will cost the government at least $2 per round, Matawalle also blamed past governments for the nation’s failure to achieve self-sufficiency in defence production.
The minister disclosed this during the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Defence, Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria, and the National Agency for Science and Engineering on the establishment of an ammunition production factory in Nigeria.
He said, “I promised Mr President that before the expiration of his four years, I assure him that DICON will be exporting its military capabilities. All we need from you is your prayers and dedication.
“We shall look at this as our baby, not just mine, but for all of us. Of course, if today we are achieving even 60 or 70 per cent reductions in the cost of our military hardware and ammunition, imagine how much the ministry or the military is spending every year.
“The military alone requires about 200 million rounds of ammunition per annum. If you include the other paramilitary services, like the police, we are looking at about 350 million rounds per annum.”
Recall that an analysis of the yearly budgets of the Ministry of Defence and eight other armed forces had shown that the government spent N231.27bn on the procurement of arms and ammunition for security agencies and officers between 2020 and 2023.
According to the analysis, the government allotted N11.72bn in 2020, N10.78bn in 2021, N9.64bn in 2022, N47.02bn and a supplementary budget of N184.25bn in 2023, making a total of N231.27bn.
Our correspondent gathered that the government also spent the sum of N115bn on the importation of arms and ammunition during the same period.
Justifying the huge arms procurement budgets last year, the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, while appearing before the House of Representatives alongside other security chiefs, said ammunition expenditure should not be seen as huge because it is spent in dollars, as Nigeria does not manufacture military hardware.
However, checks by our correspondent using GovSpend, a civic tech platform that tracks and analyses the Federal Government’s spending, showed that so far in 2024, the government, through the Defence Ministry and ONSA, has spent no less than N63.6bn on the procurement of military equipment and special ammunition.
On April 16, 2024, the government, through the Ministry of Defence, paid N990,890,182 to a company named Equipment and Protective Applications International Limited for the procurement of ammunition.
Similarly, on April 22, 2024, the ministry paid N941,937,627 to the same company for “the procurement of light tactical armoured vehicles, heavy anti-mine armoured vehicles, and ammunition for the Armed Forces of Nigeria.”
On July 2, 2024, the Defence Ministry paid N3,275,461,267 for “the procurement of bullet-resistant guard booths with surveillance capacity and proximity detectors for the Armed Forces of Nigeria.”
The Defence Ministry also deployed the sum of N33,216,000,000 in five tranches on July 26, 2024, through its naira transit account for the purchase of critical and urgent operational equipment for the Nigerian military.
On July 27, 2024, the Defence Headquarters made a payment of N3,180,667,454 for “critical and urgent operational support to procure operational requirements (balance of 50 per cent of the 2023 supplementary appropriation).”
On July 31, 2024, the government made a payment of N22bn to ONSA as a special intervention for the procurement of essential equipment.
Speaking to Saturday PUNCH, a professor of Criminology and Crime Control/Security Studies at Adekunle Ajasin University, Ondo State, Sigismund Akinbulumo, explained that while the Chief of Defence Staff’s argument may sound logical given the consistent devaluation of the naira, the Nigerian military and police should revamp the country’s security architecture to curb the rising spate of terror attacks, killings, and kidnappings.
