A dramatic scene was recorded today April 13 after the Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Ibrahim Attahiru appeared before House of Representatives ad-hoc committee on arms and ammunition as part of the investigation into arms purchase by the military.


Attahiru refused to speak on arms procurement after presenting a document to the committee.


According to the COAS, he just resumed office and the issues surrounding the procurement of arms should be answered by the “specific individuals” who initiated the purchase.


He said;


“The submission before you speaks to the report before you. It is an executive summary. It is very self-explanatory to the extent that it has been pluralised. When you demanded this report, you stated a specific period for which you wanted it.

“You may wish to recall that the Chief of Army Staff took over the mantle of leadership barely two months ago.

“The period for which you want this report having been summarised in the executive summary explained whatever details you require.

“Issues of arms procurement that you so demand to know were done by specific individuals, I will rather you call these individuals to explain to you very specific issues the general explanation is contained in this report.”


A member of the committee, Ejiro Ogene had also faulted the COAS explanation for not appearing before the committee earlier.


Ogene said;


“When we ask you to come, the people are the ones speaking, sovereignty lies in the people; if we see it like this, things will be different.

“I expect that the COAS tenders an apology, not an explanation; you are serving the people and they are as your employer.”


Firing back at him, Attahiru insisted that his explanation serves as an apology. He said;


“When you say I offered an explanation, it is as good as an apology. It only tells you the reasons why I wasn’t here and the reasons are pungent enough.”


Following the rising tension at the proceeding, Chairman of the Committee Olaide Akinremi ruled that the hearing goes into a closed-door meeting and the media were asked to leave the hearing.

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN has secured three separate interim orders from a Federal High Court in Abuja to freeze bank accounts linked to 194 business entities and individuals in 17 banks.

This was contained in a post by the apex bank on its website yesterday pursuant to the court order. The freeze orders were sequel to three exparte applications filed by the apex bank seeking a mandatory order of the court to ask the 17 banks to freeze the account of the business organizations and individual pending the outcome of an ongoing investigation the apex bank had initiated.

In one of the suits against Nuru Abubakar and 24 others, the court granted the request by CBN to freeze the account of the defendants in the banks for 45 days. Justice A.R Muhammed who made the order in his ruling on March 30, 2021, said: “An interim order is hereby made empowering the applicant to direct the head office of the listed banks to freeze forthwith all transactions on the bank account of the defendants for a period of 45 days pending the outcome of investigation and inquiry currently being conducted by CBN.”

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In another suit filed by CBN against Sethwealth Ventures and two others, the court granted an exparte application by the apex bank to freeze 50 accounts linked to the three defendants in 13 banks. A similar order was also made in the suit by CBN against Bluebeam Capital Ltd freezing 60 accounts of the company in 13 banks.

The 17 banks affected are Access Bank, First City Monument Bank, Fidelity Bank, Sterling Bank, Keystone Bank, Providus Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Wema Bank and First Bank. Others are Guaranty Trust Bank, Ecobank Bank, Heritage Bank, Polaris Bank, Zenith Bank, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and Union Bank.

The companies affected include Bluebeam Capital Limited, Sethwealth Ventures, Seasons Bureau De Change, Lat-Ade Logistics, Sani Polo Global Investment Ltd, Saneo Global Resources Limited and Romvic Ventures Nigeria Limited.