Ex-Service Chiefs To Be Investigated Over Buhari’s 'Missing' Certificate by Yhunoos: 7:36am

Some of the Service Chiefs fired on Monday are to be investigated over some allegations, The Nation has learnt.

Among the allegations are:

•mismanagement of funds for operations; and

•alleged disappearance of the President’s Secondary School Certificate from military records.

Some retired military officers are said to be pushing for the revisit of the row over President Muhammadu Buhari’s certificate.

It was learnt that security reports indicated that some of the Service Chiefs were allegedly “reckless” in office.

One of the sacked military chiefs was noted for “enjoying himself to the fullest”. Another spent a fortune on wrist-watches and acquired property.

There has been some disquiet in military circles over the allegation that some of the military chiefs substantially benefited from an Abuja housing scheme meant for middle-level officers.

A unit of the houses costs about N7 million, which military officers were asked to pay under three months.

Since most of them could not raise the N7 million per unit, some Service Chiefs were said to have taken “undue advantage” to corner appreciable units.

According to sources, there was a  discreet preliminary investigation of the activities some of the Service Chiefs before they were asked to go on Monday.

The preliminary findings may set the stage for a comprehensive investigation, it was learnt.
A highly-placed source said: “I think the government will certainly look into the activities of some Service Chiefs

“Among the former Service Chiefs, it was known to all that one of them used to buy wrist-watches worth about $300,000 to $500,000 at will for whoever he liked while in office.

“This is outside curious spending on unnecessary overhead. The situation was that bad. You can see why we are celebrating their exit in the barracks.

“As a matter of fact, one or two of the Service Chiefs indirectly funded the campaign activities of a party in their states through their proxies.

“In fact, there is a case of a former Service Chief who was ‘crazy’ with acquisition of property in Abuja for himself and his relations.”

The Nation learnt that “a fresh lead” would force a revisit of the Buhari Secondary School Certificate row.

It was gathered that the alleged ‘dislocation’ of the certificate from the President’s file is likely to be investigated to give the public the “other side” of what really transpired just before the general elections when the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) alleged that Buhari had no certificate.

A military source said: “Some respected but retired military officers are demanding a probe of the circumstances behind the certificate saga because it created a division in the military. These aggrieved officers have insisted that credentials of every military officer are always in their files.

“There is a fresh lead that the President’s file might have suffered some mutilation or misplacement. While some claimed that the certificate had been misplaced since the 1980s, others alleged mutilation as a result of some political factors.

“Some military officers alleged that the certificate might have got lost in transit when the military was relocating from Lagos to Abuja in the 1990s.

“The essence of the investigation is to set the records straight and put issues in the right perspective.