Audit of the Ministry of Defense in Niger: two suppliers on the list

Text by: Marie-Pierre Olphand Follow

The audit of the Nigerian Ministry of Defense revealed a shortfall of more than 110 million euros for the State, via overcharges, fictitious contracts, unfair competition… An investigation is currently being carried out by the judicial police . The audit report does not focus on the administrative chain that led to the validation of contracts, but focuses on a dozen suppliers of military equipment. Two men are, however, signatories to the majority of contracts passed by the investigators. Aboubacar Charfo, known above all for his activity in the construction industry. And the first in terms of the amount of contracts signed: Hima Aboubacar, alias Petit Boubé. Its name has long resonated in the defense markets sector.

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Petit Boubé , as we call it, concentrates nearly 40% of the overcharges pinned by the investigators. And this mainly via a company registered in Nigeria which would have signed, between 2015 and 2018, 88 billion CFA francs of contract, the overcharged and undelivered third party, according to the provisional audit report. Statements that for the moment refuse to comment on the billionaire's lawyer.

"  He's someone who distrusts everyone and has no friends,  " says a man who did business with him a few years ago before adding, "  He has no qualms.  " For his relatives, these critics are only jealousy.

Its asset: to have the necessary funds to pose as a substitute for the State for certain contracts. He sometimes advances money before being reimbursed by the Treasury. "  It is paid on commissions or staggering interest rates  ", says an expert on the Nigerian financial machinery. Hence one of his nicknames, "the magician of contracts".

Married to the daughter of former President Baré Maïnassara, he rubs shoulders with the greatest. In Niamey we know its marble palaces, in which several heads of state have been accommodated. Illustration of its proximity to the presidency. In Paris, he owns three mansions on avenue Foch and several luxury cars.

Hitherto very protected, he has not yet been worried in this Nigerian case. But one of his closest relatives the chief of staff of the Air Force lost his job on May 22.

►  Read also: Niger: second audit report on public procurement at the Ministry of Defense

Aboubacar Charfo is a trader from the department of Bouza in the Tahoua region, stronghold of President Issoufou. Of the contracts screened by the provisional audit report, it was he who signed the most after Hima Aboubacar and this, for an amount of 57 billion CFA francs. A third of the contracts entrusted to it would be overcharged or undelivered, according to this document.

The Charfo Establishments are mainly known for their activity in the construction industry. But in recent years the number of contracts signed by Aboubacar Charfo in the defense sector has exploded, according to several observers. Trucks, armored vehicles, buses, motorcycles, spare parts, night vision goggles, weapons and ammunition, it notably imports Chinese equipment.

How did it enter the sector? "  In view of its national base it has the cash to make the advances necessary for this type of contract,  " said a politician from the Tahoua region. "  What counts are above all his connections in the presidential movement  ," said another political source.

Joined by RFI, Aboubacar Charfo did not wish to speak.

►  Read also: Niger: overwhelming revelations on the audit of the Ministry of Defense 

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