“The PDP is still failing the basic mathematics,” a
political analyst told SaharaReporters.
“They can squander all of the money in the Central Bank trying to damage
the reputation of everyone in the opposition, but how does that provide a cover
for the ineptitude and corruption of the Goodluck Jonathan government? Does that explain why Nigeria is far worse
than they found it? That is the question
Nigerians will be answering when they go to the polls in three weeks.”
SaharaReporters has obtained documents relating to a
scandalously inflated $500 million defense contract that President Goodluck
Jonathan awarded to Arthur Eze, a Nigerian businessman with a shady past, a
close friend of the president and his wife, and a major financier of the ruling
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Our security sources said some officers of the
Nigerian Air Force (NAF) were furious over the jumbo contract described by one
source as “a pure waste.” The sources, most of them military personnel, told
our correspondent that, in addition to its sheer extravagance, the contract has
also saddled the Nigerian military with helicopters that have limited or no
combat utility.
The documents obtained by our correspondent reveal
that Mr. Eze, the chief executive of Triax, received the gigantic sum of $466.5
million in order to weaponize six Puma helicopters with the aid of an Israeli
company named Elbit Systems. This meant that each weaponized helicopter cost
close to $78 million. “For the price of each helicopter provided by Engineer
Arthur Eze, the Air Force could have acquired seven top grade military
helicopters,” said one of our sources.
An Air Force officer said he was alarmed at the
alacrity with which Mr. Eze’s overinflated proposal was approved by the NSA’s
office. The NAF followed with an equally quick endorsement sixteen days later.
One of our sources accused President Jonathan and
Mr. Eze of using the refusal of the US to sell Cobra attack helicopters to
Nigeria as an excuse to engage in a large-scale squandering of funds involving
the Federal Government and Mr. Eze’s company, the Triax Company Nigeria
Limited. “In the US, a brand new AH Cobra attack helicopter costs around $12
million each,” said a source at the NAF. He added: “That means that, with $400
million, Nigeria could have purchased up to 40 brand new helicopters.”
According to the source, the Cobra attack helicopter
is one of the best US-made helicopters. “It is highly effective in the
battlefield. It would have given us big battlefield advantage over Boko Haram,”
he said.
In an additional proposal, Mr. Eze’s company sought
to purchase 4,000 57mm S5 rockets, 400 80mm S8 rockets, 500 general-purpose
bombs, and 20,000 units of unguided rockets. His company also received a
contract to refurbish three C-130 planes that had been sitting at the hanger of
the Nigerian Air Force for several years.
A final invoice Mr. Eze submitted to the Nigerian
government showed that he would receive $466, 500,000 to supply six upgraded
Puma helicopters, four units of single-seater Sukhoi Su-25K (“Frog-foot”)
Soviet-made ground attack jets, and two upgraded Su-25UB trainers for $330
million. In addition, he would receive $14 million for the shipping of
platforms/ground support/line replacement of the six Puma helicopters; $44
million for some arms and ammunition earlier proposed; $37 million for the
maintenance of C-130 engines, and $40 million for unspecified armaments for the
NAF.
Our military sources stated that Mr. Eze’s invoice
for the supply of the refurbished aircraft was massively inflated by
international and Nigerian standards.
Several of the sources said Triax delivered the
substandard equipment after Mr. Eze further padded the cost of the refurbished
helicopters and the C-130. The sources revealed that, since February 15, 2015,
when Chief of Air Staff Amosu showed off the helicopters and C-130 planes, none
of the aircraft has been deployed even once to fight Boko Haram militants.
“They are not in any combat-ready condition,” one officer fumed. “We are
looking at a total waste of money for no good reason.”
SaharaReporters could not ascertain from Mr. Amosu
whether the Air Force had taken delivery of the other items listed on the
invoice Mr. Eze had signed and submitted to the NSA’s office.
Mr. Eze’s partners in the defense deals is Elbit
Systems, an Israeli company that has been involved in several scandalous
defense contracts in Nigeria, including a multimillion dollar internet spying
project.
Our sources wondered why the Nigerian government,
which is in a critical stage of counter-insurgency operations against Islamist
group Boko Haram, would strike such an overinflated deal with Mr. Eze’s firm to
purchase antiquated helicopters and other equipment that were virtually
discarded by Romania.
One clear answer may be found in the fact that Mr.
Eze is one of the biggest personal financiers of Mr. Jonathan’s re-election.
The businessman, who also controls huge interests in oil fields both in Nigeria
and other West African countries, has been funneling millions of dollars into
Mr. Jonathan’s campaign, said an insider PDP source. The businessman is
extremely close to Mr. Jonathan and is reportedly well liked by First Lady
Patience Jonathan because of his lavish presents to her, including million
dollar gifts.
Mr. Eze is a big-spending billionaire who is an
expert at ingratiating himself with those in power. During the brutal
dictatorship led by the late General Sani Abacha, Mr. Eze became one of the
closest confidantes of the general and his wife. He received a huge windfall
when Mr. Abacha handed him the $120 million contract for rural electricity and
water projects in the southeastern states. Even though the contract sum was
borrowed from the African Development Bank, Mr. Eze pocketed the money without
doing any of the projects, a scandal that led to the firing of the bank’s chief
executive.
At the height of Mr. Abacha’s repression, Mr. Eze
used to fly traditional rulers from the southeast on frequent visits to pledge
loyalty to the dictator in Abuja. The Triax executive even stated once that he
would go into exile if Mr. Abacha gave up power to an elected government.
Mr. Eze warmed his way to President Olusegun
Obasanjo. As Mr. Obasanjo sought to change the constitution to extend his
tenure, Mr. Eze was a vociferous supporter of the scheme.
His closeness to President Jonathan and his wife has
brought him more riches through inflated contracts and great political clout.
At the urging of Mr. Jonathan and his wife, the PDP national headquarters in
Abuja allowed Mr. Eze to determine most of those announced as winners of PDP primaries
for Federal legislative seats in the southeast, but especially in his home
state of Anambra. In most cases, the businessman’s candidates were declared
winners of primaries that were either not held or were heavily manipulated
No comments:
Post a Comment