A lucrative contract for the procurement of defence equipment for the Nigeria Police Force appeared to have triggered the raging confrontation at the highest levels of the Buhari administration, PREMIUM TIMES can report.

Freshly obtained documents showed how the national security adviser, Babagana Monguno, tackled President Muhammadu Buhari’s chief of staff, Abba Kyari, for allegedly overriding a previous directive of the president in a contract to procure equipment for the police from the United Arab Emirates.

In the December 9, 2019 letter that was addressed to the police affairs minister and police inspector-general, Mr Monguno, a retired major-general, described Mr Kyari’s action as “reckless and irresponsible”, warning that it was capable of ridiculing Nigeria as an unserious nation before a reliable international partner.

Mr Monguno warned in the letter that Mr Kyari has been getting away with disregarding presidential orders to impose his own decisions — even though he had no constitutional power to issue directives on matters bordering on security. The NSA said only himself, as the head of multiple national security panels, and the defence minister have constitutional roles to act on security matters.

The documents appeared a part of a series of circulars issued between Mr Monguno and Mr Kyari between May and December 2019.

The first part of the documents to leak was first published by PREMIUM TIMES on Monday afternoon. It detailed how Mr Monguno accused Mr Kyari of hampering efforts to resolve insecurity in the country, sparking nationwide uproar and call for the president to take charge of his administration’s security measures.

The first memo also carried the same December 9, 2019 date, but was addressed to all crucial offices of national security coordination. The latest memo appeared to have been sent to inform the police affairs minister and the inspector-general on the background of the equipment and how Mr Kyari might be frustrating the procurement process.

It was not immediately clear which equipment were being procured by the Buhari administration from the Emirati, but Mr Monguno disclosed that the International Golden Group, a Dubai-based defence and security dealer, was the firm agreed between Mr Buhari and the UAE Crown Prince in 2016, the memo showed.

Neither the president nor anyone in his cabinet has commented on the crisis at the presidency since Monday. Mr Kyari and two presidential spokespersons, Femi Adesina and Garba Shehu, rejected requests for comments on the memo Monday afternoon. They also did not return similar requests based on the latest documents that shed additional light into the rancour.

Nigeria has been grappling with multiple security problems, most of which security experts have said should ordinarily be handled by the police. The military has been locked in a decade-long battle with Boko Haram insurgents ravaging the country’s northwestern flank and the neighbouring Niger, Cameroon and Chad.

Mr Buhari’s repeated promises to curtail insecurity have come short for the most part, despite billions spent on military procurement and capacity-building efforts.

Mr Monguno, who has continued to act as the NSA even though his appointment has not been renewed for Mr Buhari’s second term, has been at the centre of coordinating efforts to combat insecurity. But his labour, he said in the memo, has been regularly frustrated by Mr Kyari’s “meddlesomeness,” which has pitted the chief of staff to not just the NSA but other key administration officials over the years, including Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo.

The implication for the raging fall-out between the top aides of the president has dominated debates since the first memo was published on Monday. The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has demanded a thorough investigation into the fallout, lamenting its potential detriment to national security.

See documents below:

Additional documents on Monguno and Kyari face-off over police equipment contract



Additional documents on Monguno and Kyari face-off over police equipment contract



Additional documents on Monguno and Kyari face-off over police equipment contract



Additional documents on Monguno and Kyari face-off over police equipment contract

In the December 9, 2019 letter that was addressed to the police affairs minister and police inspector-general, Mr Monguno, a retired major-general, described Mr Kyari’s action as “reckless and irresponsible”, warning that it was capable of ridiculing Nigeria as an unserious nation before a reliable international partner.

Esseite:


Kyari may not be anyone's favourite but:

The bolded quote goes to show the NSA is more interested in the Lucrative contract memo of 2016 rather than Nigerians whom actually need the equipments for security.

How many budgets have been passed since 2016 that the NSA is still pursuing a contract memo of 2016 rather than ensuring other options of getting the equipments where necessary, if it's not dubious...

I stand with Kyari.

Esseite:


Kyari may not be anyone's favourite but:

The bolded quote goes to show the NSA is more interested in the Lucrative contract memo of 2016 rather than Nigerians whom actually need the equipments for security.

How many budgets have been passed since 2016 that the NSA is still pursuing a contract memo of 2016 rather than ensuring other options of getting the equipments where necessary, if it's not dubious...

I stand with Kyari.

Amumaigwe:


You really stand with a K-Keg

Mayhem999:



Chai! reading easy o!
but to understand na where wahala dey.
If u like stand with keyamo, na people like u already make this country resemble zoo.

thundafire:
u seem cursed wat has got a chief of staff to do with government procurement

Esseite:


Kyari may not be anyone's favourite but:

The bolded quote goes to show the NSA is more interested in the Lucrative contract memo of 2016 from a particular company rather than Nigerians whom actually need the equipments for security.

How many budgets have been passed since 2016 that the NSA is still pursuing a contract memo of 2016 rather than ensuring other options of getting the equipments.

The story is one sided.

Doubleoh7:
And the country continues on its nosedive.




Your new prayer point should include asking God for the spirit of comprehension. Because if you do, you will know that from this write up, Kyari seems to be the one interested in making money for himself by trying to procure equipment from another source other than the one his president has agreed with his foreign counterpart to handle this deal. Partisanship should have a limit!

Esseite:


Kyari may not be anyone's favourite but:
The bolded quote goes to show the NSA is more interested in the Lucrative contract memo of 2016 from a particular company rather than Nigerians whom actually need the equipments for security.
How many budgets have been passed since 2016 that the NSA is still pursuing a contract memo of 2016 rather than ensuring other options of getting the equipments.
The story is one sided.

ZombieHUNT:


Shame on you
You irritate me
Spits....

Esseite:


Broaden your mind..

ZombieHUNT:


Go back to your school if you attended any... And ask for refund... You were highly cheated...

Esseite:


Like I said the story is one sided, if you had an iota of being inquisitive, you would ask why the pursuit of a contract memo of 2016 in 2020 when there is a four year gap difference to seek even if it's another memo with different terms from the president.

Why that exact memo of 2016 and from that particular company with blackmail of relationship ties as far back as 2016.

Esseite:


Nigerians hate truth only focuses on what pleases them.

ZombieHUNT:


You were worse than that dead meat seller on this thread.. Just go

Doubleoh7:

And in the spirit of inquisitiveness i ask you, why override your president and commander in chief's express instruction that was made not just in your presence but agreed to with a foreign leader? Like he rightly pointed out, do you know how much ridicule that brings to him internationally? Does that show a government that is purposefully run?