The Acting Director of Defence Information, Brig.-Gen. Rabe Abubakar, has said the directive to officers of the Nigerian Army to declare their assets is informed by the need to preserve the integrity of the military and check corruption among the officers. Abubakar said this in an interview with one of our correspondents in Abuja on Thursday.
The Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Kukasheka, had, earlier in a statement on Thursday, said the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, had directed all officers of the Nigerian Army, who had not declared their assets, to do so immediately.
He added that Buratai had declared his own assets on his appointment as Commander, Multinational Joint Task Force in May, 2015 and also on his appointment as Chief of Army Staff in July, 2015.
Kukasheka stated, “This directive is in order, considering the fact that all military officers have Presidential Commission and are public servants, as well as subject to both civil and military laws.
In addition, given the current drive of the country for probity and accountability, the Nigerian Army should not only key into such move but should be one of the key drivers of such laudable project.”
Abubakar, while justifying the directive of the Army chief, said, “This is a system which is built on discipline. This is a system which is built on integrity; so, any questionable character should be stopped. It doesn’t need to happen before we start shouting. All the loopholes should be blocked.”
When asked if the directive would be extended to other services, he said, “We should always take things as they come. As I earlier said, the military is one family. The military is one entity, the military is one brotherhood. So whatever we do, we share sentiment among ourselves. Most importantly, we want to, as much as possible, preserve the integrity for which the military is known over the years.”
He added that when such orders were given, there must be compliance, adding that compliance was in the interest of the nation.