APA-Niamey (Niger) – The transitional authorities on Monday repealed the law on defence spending, much to the dismay of civil society groups.
In Niger, defence spending will now be kept secret and will not be subject to any controls, according to a presidential decree signed on 23 February, which repeals the law on the control of such a budget.
The purchase of any military equipment, as well as services or works provided to the army and the presidency, will no longer be subject to public procurement and accounting regulations.
This expenditure is also exempt from tax until the end of the transitional period, according to the decree seen by RFI.
The removal of the Ministry of Defence’s expenditure from the scope of control is of concern to the people of Niger.
For Ibrahim Bana, spokesman for the Patriotic Front for Sovereignty, the main supporter of the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP), the military body in power in Niger, “this is an extremely serious step backwards in the fight for good governance and against corruption and similar crimes.”
Speaking to Deutsche Welle, he explained that this order puts an end to any possibility of exercising a priori or even a posteriori control over military spending.
“Today, this order is an even bigger blow. It is a blow to transparency and good governance,” said Ibrahim Bana.
Souley Oumarou, president of the Citizens’ Forum for the Republic, sees it as “an open door to mismanagement, bad governance and embezzlement, because from now on, with this decree, the spending of the Ministry of Defence will be carried out in total obscurity.”
The Niger Anti-Corruption Association has condemned the signing of the decree by the head of state and called for it to be rescinded once and for all, arguing that if it goes ahead it will be more dangerous than the “MDN Gate” scandal.
The so-called “MDN Gate” affair refers to the scandal that broke out in 2021 at the Ministry of Defence, in which more than 78 billion CFA francs were embezzled during the signing of arms purchase contracts.
DS/te/lb/as/APA