By Soni Daniel, Regional Editor, North

Pervasive corruption, not Nigerian armed forces, is hindering the fight against insurgency in the North- East, an All Progressives Congress, APC, Presidential aspirant, Mr. Sam Nda-Isaiah, has said.

Nda-Isaiah told Saturday Vanguard in an exclusive interview that despite the huge annual budgetary allocations to the security agencies in Nigeria, massive corruption has made it almost impossible for the armed forces to acquire the basic weapons to confront crimes.

The founder of the Leadership Newspaper group however absolved the Nigerian soldiers from their seeming inability to crush their enemies in the ongoing insurgency war in the north, insisting that they were among the best fighting forces in the world.

Nda-Isaiah, who is the Kakaki Nupe, pointed out that it was wrong to castigate the soldiers for their current failure to tame the insurgents since the country had at different times used the same soldiers and policemen to win major combats around the world and earn accolades for itself.

The Presidential hopeful said: “I tell you, we have had some very serious challenges in the past that these same security men in Nigeria effectively tackled. Don’t also forget that Nigeria was big and strong enough to send its soldiers and policemen to other countries to go and save them. These same armed forces did it. Nigerians soldiers are good; they only need the right support to excel.

“Of course, corruption is limiting them. Go and find out as a media person, how much is budgeted for the armed forces and what actually gets to them.

“Now, the soldiers are even complaining that they are not well fed and are not provided with bullets. Soldiers are proud fighters, willing and ready to fight but why are they running from the battle? Why are they running away from Boko Haram into Cameroun? Find out.”