Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum’s government has denied receiving N1.2 billion from President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime for either armour or exotic vehicles, contradicting a statement by the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed.
Hajiya Ahmed had announced that Buhari’s regime disbursed N1.2 billion to the Niger Republic on August 3, a statement that sparked rage across the country, especially given the series of support to Niger Republic by the Buhari administration.
The Nigerien government insisted Ahmad’s claims were untrue, but however stated that troops from Niger Republic have continued to protect Nigerians from bandits and terrorists.
The Nigerien Minister of Defence, Alkassoum Indatou, rebutting the Buhari regime’s claim, also revealed that Zamfara residents rely on the neighbouring nation’s soldiers for protection against bandits.
Mr Indatou pointed out that instead of the Federal Government, it was the Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara gifted the Maradi region Hilux vans, and not the Buhari regime as claimed by Ahmed.
“The state of Zamfara which has given five vehicles to the Maradi region, four of which have already been received.
t”It is not the Federal Government of Nigeria as the Minister of Finance of Nigeria Zainab Ahmed declared,” said a translation of the French statement of a top Nigerien official familiar with the matter.
“The populations of Zamfara who are on the border with Niger call more on the Nigerien soldiers who respond to the minute than even those of their own country,” he said.
The prompt response of the Nigerien soldiers to Zamfara residents’ distress calls might have informed Matawalle’s decision to gift the neighbouring country Hilux vehicles, although the gift was done surreptitiously, raising another eye brow.
In February, the Buhari regime claimed it contracted Kaura Motors Nigeria Limited, with Fidelity Bank account 4010638472, to purchase 10 Toyota Land Cruiser vehicles for the Niger Republic for N1.2 billion.
The Nigerien government’s denial of Buhari’s intervention package could strain the relationship between both countries and further ignite the controversy surrounding the matter.
Greeted with disdain, the news of the disbursement first reported by Sahara Reporters in June had stirred the anger of Nigerians as they censured Buhari for squandering Nigeria’s limited resources on countries which offered little or zero economic value to the country.
