Saharareporters, New York

* How Obasanjo Arms Deal with Singapore cost 21 year-old footballer Amara Tochi his life

* Each Cobra Armored vehicle cost  $185,000 (N23 million).

* Irony- Niger Delta resources directly used from the NNPC to buy the weapons.

Saharareporters has reliably gathered that President Obasanjo’s substantial interest in a recent arms deal with the Singaporean government for the acquisition of 193 Cobra Armored Vehicles to squash the activists in the Niger Delta is reported to have caused the lack luster stance towards the Singaporean government as they hanged the young Nigerian footballer, Iwuchukwu Amara Tochi.

Saharareporters discovered that the Singaporean government threats of freezing the arms deal caused President Obasanjo to become inactive as the young Tochi was hanged on the morning of January 26th 2007, after the Singaporean Prime Minister rejected President Obasanjo lack-lustre request for review of Tochi’s case thus enabling NNPC to proceed to finalize the arms deal on the day following the hanging of the young Tochi.  On January 27th 2007, NNPC paid the Singaporean government for the arms.

What is interesting is the hurried and cold spirited manner in which the arms deal was handled by President Obasanjo. According to a memo by the head of NNPC – Kupolokun that was obtained by Saharareporters stating that "in view of the urgency, propriety, nature and confidentiality attached to the project, the procurement of Federal Executive Council and Due Process approvals may be inappropriate, if we have to expeditiously address the security challenges in the Niger Delta”, highlights the tone and spirit of the deal.

In the same spirit, the deal to procure the 193 light weight “Cobra” armored vehicles was executed by President Obasanjo secretly without recourse to the National Assembly or through his fabled “Due Process” which contradicts President Obasanjo’s claim of transparency in his government - along with the administrative maladies which Obasanjo managed the Oil (Petroleum and Gas) Ministry in Nigeria for over 7 years.

Nonetheless, as Saharareporters learnt, the contracts were awarded to a Singaporean defense contractor by the name Singapore Technologies Kinetic Ltd. to supply the 193 Cobra Armored vehicles for the Nigerian Army at the cost of $35.7 million equivalent to N4.4billion- with a Bankers Guarantee No. 550-0-0446905 and Invoice No.STK/2007/088B.

According to the contract records, a subsidiary of Singapore Technologies Engineering Limited was awarded the contract on January 7th 2007 by an agreement reached between the Chief of Army Staff, Major-General Azazi on behalf of the Federal Government and Singapore Kinetics largely owing to the presidency’s pressure on NNPC to approve and release an "advance payment" of the agreement to the tune of $35.7 million (N4.4 billion). Even though President Obasanjo through NNPC has completed the payment, none of the armored vehicles including “Amphibious assault vehicles” have been delivered to Nigeria. 

Robot  # 1 | 19.02.2007 11:19

Saharareporters, New York * How Obasanjo Arms Deal with Singapore c...Read the full article.

ajis15  # 2 | 19.02.2007 11:41

Tying arms deal with Tochi's death sentence does not make sense to me. Arm deals or not, Singapore would have hanged Tochi. We all know that from this country antecedents on the issue of law and order. Let Mr. Sowore talk about the arms deal, the due process, and the appropriateness of the deal. The link with Tochi, in my opinion is ludicrous.

ocnus  # 3 | 19.02.2007 11:48

Sources in Singapore and Nigeria say the commission was about $60,000 per unit and there is a thirty-five percent on-going commission built into the spare parts and maintenence kits. This is, I am told, split between three parties.

EyesWideOpen  # 4 | 19.02.2007 13:00

I hope people who have the ability to think and the courage to use it can finally see Sowore for what he is.................

naijaninja  # 5 | 19.02.2007 13:08

bullcraps.....pure hocus pocus.

UglyMan  # 6 | 19.02.2007 13:48

This presentation is too empty like an empty drum. It is a joke.

salstep  # 7 | 19.02.2007 14:16

Saharareporters discovered that the Singaporean government threats of freezing the arms deal caused President Obasanjo to become inactive as the young Tochi was hanged on the morning of January 26th 2007, after the Singaporean Prime Minister rejected President Obasanjo lack-lustre request for review of Tochi’s case thus enabling NNPC to proceed to finalize the arms deal on the day following the hanging of the young Tochi. On January 27th 2007, NNPC paid the Singaporean government for the arms. What was Sowore smoking when he wrote this article? Is he losing the plot? Come on, you don't have to try and link everything somehow to OBJ. Singapore can't threaten to pull out when they stand to make millions from the deal. I would think Nigeria had more leverage. I haven't followed Tochi's case closely but we all know the sentence for drug trafficking in the far east is death. So its a non starter. I think Mr Sahara has goofed on this one

Oguguo Yakere  # 8 | 19.02.2007 14:47

Why does Nigeria need all these arms? To fight its own citizens who are asking for justice? Why expend such a huge sum of money on arms to go on another murderous activity against its own citizens, abi? Even Cameroon's aggression against Nigeria to eventually posses Bakassi did not attract this kind of investment. Anyway the apartheid South African Government built and acquired a similar if not more sophisticated armament to kill its black citizens but God in His time caused all that investment to be a waste. So shall it be in Nigeria, Amen. Besides those amoured vehicles can be destroyed anyway, see Iraq as example. When Atiku revealed a similar information he was criticized here. Now sahara report has unveiled it and expressed a possible connection his negligence of Tochi's fate in that country an opportunity which he could have used positively which ofcourse he did not, and all one is hearing again is criticism of sahara report. Atiku is referenced here only because of the suject matter. Everybody seem to be loosing sight of the fact that by these uneccessary investment in arms that he is creating suspicion that he again wants to go on his killing spree. He killed Odi people in cold blood, MASSOB youths in cold blood, Zaki Biam people in cold blood, now he is preparing to continue same blood letting. Instead of addressing that issue what we are dwelling on is the report's connection to late innocent talented Tochi. Who says OBJ cared about Tochi anyway when he had killed many of Tochi's kind in the past. The little girl who was selling some water on the soccer field whom OBJ arrested and accused of treason was younger than Tochi. Many of those he killed as MASSOB suspects along with other innocent youths for the same reason were younger than Tochi. So what are you guys defending? Yakere

Ogadinma  # 9 | 19.02.2007 14:49

wow! What can I say!!! Even though I like some of Sowore's expose of the corrupt enrichment of our leaders, this article simply leaves me speechless.

lawproff  # 10 | 19.02.2007 15:21

omoyele sowore has finaly lost it: his mind, that is! so, armoured personel carriers are used to crush enemies in the battle field, whao? nigeria hurriedly paid the singapore for killing the young nigerian drug carrier, interesting! in fact, president obasanjo was the owner of the drug caught with tochi amara, that is why he has to allow the small fish, tochi to die in averting the huge brouhaha the expose might have caused, right? omoyele, omoyele, omoyele, how many times did i call on you? 3 times, abi? you are ruinning your own life for petty percuniary gain from the vice president atiku abubakar's camp. you should remember that, life is a cycle and sooner or later, you will pay for your sins. your attempts to run this government down from day 1 has been well documented: you started out running people down including dr ngozi iweala, then you moved unto others and finally on to the president himself; connecting and fixing round pegs into square holes in other to achieve your sinister motives. soon, you are going to tell us that, president obasanjo has actually arranged for $billions into his swiss account in other to prosecute the 4th term in office. we are waiting to read your next breathtaking breaking news as usual. kudos for your unwavering effort to bring to light, all of these evil plots. you have been nominated already, for the pulitzer price in "jungle & bungle investigative journalism." good luck and hope you win the award.

---

The conversation continues in our forum. Click here to read all comments

---