On Sunday, some news websites reported that President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to arrest officers who purchased outdated helicopters.
According to the viral story, the president also asked the EFCC to carry out further investigations into the “misconduct established against some past and serving top air force and army officers”.
“The affected officership who are seventeen in number were found culpable in using their private companies to purchase arms and equipment between 2007 and 2015 during the PDP administration,” a part of the report stated.
The news item was published as breaking news on some blogs, and was widely shared on social media platforms.
Read: BREAKING: Buhari Orders EFCC To Arrest Airforce Officers Who Purchased Outdated Helicopters [Full list] https://t.co/uuoXfpU0qS
— Tori Express Media (@ToriExpress) January 22, 2022
Buhari orders EFCC to arrest officers who purchased outdated helicopters for Nigeria https://t.co/Hdgca44hc1
— Tim Elombah (@TimElombah) January 23, 2022
https://twitter.com/News_band21/status/1485248207756177416?t=iHHOrUzHo6-14j7zTyTz3g&s=19
Tokunbo Omoodua, a Facebook user with over 100,000 followers, shared the news item on his page.
Another Facebook user, Alhaji Ogbaegbe Chigozie, also shared the post on his timeline.
VERIFICATION
Checks by TheCable showed that the news item has been online for about four years.
On January 15, 2016, Garba Shehu, senior special adviser to the president on media and publicity, issued a statement on Buhari’s directives to the EFCC to investigate “misconduct established against some retired and serving officers of the air force and army”.
The presidential directive was based on the recommendations of the committee established to audit the procurement of arms and equipment in the defence sector from 2007 to 2015.
The news item has been recirculated on some blogs as recent news.
VERDICT
The viral news story that the president ordered EFCC to arrest officers who purchased outdated helicopters is old.
