DEFENCE ministry officials have revealed that they were not involved in the procurement of arms for the Nigerian military for years now because the task was transferred to the Military Services Department.  

Earlier this month, President Muhammadu Buhari ordered a probe into all arms purchases that took place during the regimes of Presidents Umaru Yar'Adua and Goodluck Jonathan after it emerged that large sums were budgeted for purchases but no weapons were reaching the military. Aliyu Ismaila, the permanent secretary in the defence ministry, told President Buhari yesterday that the ministry has been disengaged from playing a role in arms a while. 

Mr Ismaila said: “Definitely, the ministry was involved in the procurement of arms sometime but in recent years, the responsibility was shifted to the services department. Mr President has asked that the ministry of defence be included in that arms probe committee, so, definitely we have something to present to that committee. 

“The ministry is very excited that this committee has been formed because our own concern apart from the administrative and financial support is to make sure that policy thrust is complied with. Procurement of relevant equipment according to specification of the Nigerian armed forces is being complied with and we are very happy for that.".

He added that at the end of the process, he hopes to have a procurement regime that will be value added, cost effective and meet Nigeria's needs both locally and internationally. He added that President Buhari directed that the ministry be co-opted into the panel because the ministry was involved in the procurement during the period under probe. 

Mr Ismaila further noted that terrorism would soon be a thing of the past in the country as the military is undergoing retraining to be able to contain the insurgency once and for all. This, he added, was why the new service chiefs have been working round the clock to ensure that the three months deadline given them by the president to end the gory activities of the Boko Haram sect is met.