President of Niger Republic, Mohamed Bazoum has denied the assertion by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government that it made a donation of N1.2bn to Niger Republic in its bid to increase the tempo of the fight against insurgency within the neighbouring countries.
In the blockbuster disclosure, Bazoum said only the Maradi region of his country received hilux vans from Zamfara State Governor, Bello Matawalle.
Reports have it that Zamfara is said to rely heavily on the support of security forces of neighbouring countries for protection against terrorist attacks.
Niger Republic’s Minister of Defence, Alkassoum Indatou who spoke on behalf of the nation’s President, contradicted the claim by Nigerian Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed who recently claimed that President Buhari had approved the said sum for Niger Republic.
According to the Nigerien Government, the claim by the Federal Government of Nigeria is untrue despite the efforts of its troop to protect Nigerians from terror attacks from Boko Haram and Al-shabab militants.
However, Indatou stated that Governor Matawalle gave the Maradi region Hilux vans, not the Buhari regime as claimed by Nigeria’s Finance Minister.
“The state of Zamfara which has given five vehicles to the Maradi region, four of which have already been received, it is not the federal government as the Minister of Finance of Nigeria Zainab Ahmed declared,” said a translation of the French statement of a top Nigerien official privy to the issues.
“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 added.
The Buhari regime had 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.
