Nigeria fraudulently lost over $15bn in arms deals - Veep

Nigeria’s Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has accused the previous government of embezzling nearly $15 billion of public funds through fraudulent arms deals.

Presidential panel in #Nigeria reportedly uncovers massive $15 billion fraud involving military funds. https://t.co/ow1xXNaiCH

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The fraud was mostly in the procurement of security equipment, the vice-president said in a speech on Monday.

”It was discovered a few days ago that the total amount of money lost just to corruption in part of…and provision of security equipment in the military is close to $15 billion,” Osinbajo said.

The money was originally intended for the armed forces to fight against the Islamist group Boko Haram.

According to economic analysts, the colossal amount represents more than half of Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves.

“When you look at the sheer amount of money that has been embezzled, the sheer amount of money lost from any of these various cases of corruption, you will find that far too much has been lost,” Osibanjo added

There are several investigations under way into corruption in the purchasing of arms during the last government.

President Muhammadu Buhari was elected last May with the promise to rid off corruption that has plagued the west African nation.