President Muhammadu Buhari has explained how procurement of arms for the nation’s armed forces was compromised under the last administration, saying that his administration was taking urgent and appropriate actions to restore order, due process and probity to the processes.
Speaking at a meeting with the British Secretary of State for Defence, Mr. Michael Fallon, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Monday, he said the process became open to corruption and shady deals under the last administration.
“They just put foreign exchange in a briefcase and travelled to procure equipment for the military. That is why we have found ourselves in the crisis we are now facing,” the president said.
He welcomed the offer by the British government to assist Nigeria in defence procurement, intelligence gathering and training.
President Buhari restated his conviction that the international community must collaborate more and work with greater unity of purpose to overcome global terrorism.
He added: “Terrorism has become very sophisticated now. If developed nations can be attacked, and hundreds of lives lost, how much more developing countries?
“In the West African sub-region, Nigeria is the main battleground of the Boko Haram insurgency. We have made a lot of progress against the terrorists, but we will welcome more assistance from our friends and the international community.”
In his remark, Mr. Fallon said he was in the country to see what more Britain could do to support Nigeria in battling terrorism and violent extremism.
