Hijackings in the Nigerian Ministry of Defense: a French MP wonders

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The audit of public contracts awarded by the Nigerian Ministry of Defense, which highlighted in February large-scale embezzlement operations and a shortfall of 76 billion FCFA or around 110 million euros for the State, continues to make Niger speak. But also in France.

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A French deputy thus challenged the French Ministry of the Armed Forces on the subject, saying that in a context of military cooperation, France could not fail to worry about the irregularities noted. Because if the hijackings noted above all harm Nigeriens, they also serve France and its army which is making considerable efforts for the war in the Sahel.

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This is the observation made by Frédérique Dumas, member of the France-Niger friendship group. HerWritten question posed last week to the Ministry of the Armed Forces has still not been answered.

"  There are obviously overcharges and undelivered equipment, " she explains , interviewed by Marie-Pierre Olphand of the RFI Africa service. There are also materials that have been purchased, with a final destination that we do not know. All of this endangers the security of the people and our own troops. This is very serious because the dysfunctions are numerous and of very large magnitude.  "

Jacques Maire, who chairs the France-Niger friendship group, is not on the same line. For him these diversions do not directly concern Paris since no French money is at stake. But the member concedes: we are concerned like all donors who are interested in good governance. "  We can see, once again, that military spending is extremely vulnerable to embezzlement," admits Jacques Maire, joined by Marie-Pierre Olphand . They are subject to very little scrutiny because there is no parliamentary scrutiny as such. They are covered by Defense secrecy, and that concerns us  "

In a press release dated April 7, the prosecutor confirmed having received the file and promised to thoroughly investigate the shortcomings found in the report. Nothing has leaked so far from this judicial work.

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• Niger
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• Defense

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