Nigerian Legion: Over N47 Million Naira Allegedly Realized Recently from the Recruitments of Corps of Commissionaires —
Morenike, Where is the Money?
– Okra Joshua
From the headquarters of Nigerian Legion, insiders have revealed that about Forty Seven Million naira was realized from three recent recruitment exercises of the Nigerian Legion Corps of Commissionaires in Nigeria.
These recruitments took place in September and November, 2025 and April, 2026 at FCT, Abuja and in Suleja, Niger State under the supervision of National Chairman of Nigerian Legion, Grace Henry Morenike.
Morenike was appointed the National Chairman of Nigerian Legion on 21st June, 2025 with a mandate to preside over the National Council of the Nigerian Legion, which National Council has the powers and authority to make decisions and formulate policies in respect of military veterans in Nigeria.
The supreme law governing the affairs of military veterans in Nigeria is the Nigerian Legion Act. The law vests the National Council , not the National Chairman, with powers to make decisions and policies concerning the affairs of the military veterans. Section 7 (2) states that the affairs of the Legion shall be managed by the National Council. The law also gives the Honourable Minister of Defence powers over the affairs of the Nigerian Legion.
In the entirety of the Nigerian Legion Act, there is nowhere the National Chairman of the Nigerian Legion is personally vested with powers, authority, or mandate to unilaterally make decisions and policies or run the affairs of Nigerian Legion or the Nigerian Legion Corps of Commissionaires on his/her own. The National Chairman only carries out the decisions and programmes of the National Council, even as she presides the massive veterans House.
The recent allegations surrounding over ₦47 million naira reportedly realized from recent recruitment of Corps of Commissionaires and sale of forms have presently raised serious concerns, just like the previous issues raised against her bothering on her integrity and competence.
Care Reporters learnt that the National Chairman has an elected Deputy Commandant General who is the National Coordinating Commandant of the Nigerian Legion Corps of Commissionaires, DCG/NCC, whose duty it is to handle the operations of Corps of Commissionaires in Nigeria, but the National Chairman usurped his office and abandoned military veteran responsibilities she was appointed to handle and has been neck deep into Corps of Commissionaires recruitments and activities, just for money making, in defiance of the law, due process and her statutory responsibility.
Presently, Corporal Morenike has embarked on a new style of recruitments of corps of commissionaires without requisite processes. In just less than one year, Morenike has carried out three (3) recruitments of members of Nigerian Legion Corps of Commissionaires in Abuja and Suleja and perhaps other places without the approval of the National Council of Nigerian Legion and without consultation with the elected DCG/NCC, and has allegedly raked-in for herself over Forty Seven million naira in these recruitments without accounting to anybody. These civilian applicants were given hasty training and the sum of One Hundred and Thirty Thousand Naira (₦130,000) was collected from each of them. Moreso, Madam Morenike brandished some forms for Corps of Commissionaires and gave marching order to all State Chairmen to go and sell the forms in their various States for ₦10,000 and return the proceeds to her in Abuja, as a ceremonial Commandant General. Each state was presented with about 500 forms each, expecting them to realize 5 million naira from the forms sold in each state of the Federation. These forms are being sold for massive recruitments without adequate and due arrangements for the training of the applicants in states of the federation and for integration and engagements of the applicants after training.
Questions are now being asked as to: How much was realized from the recruitment exercises? Where is the money? Into which account were the monies paid? Was the National Council involved? Who authorized the collection and/or utilization of the money? Was due process followed?
These questions became pertinent when the reporter reached out to the elected Deputy Commandant General/ National Cordinating Commandant, Dr. Emeka Norman Igwesi, who is a lawyer, who responded that such exercises were carried out by the National Chairman herself without due process and proper authority. It became a serious issue and disturbing that Morenike held an online National Council Meeting and did not report or even mention these recruitments and the proceeds thereon. No report or accounting in respect of the over N47 million allegedly made was mentioned in that National Council Meeting of about 7 State Chairmen out of 36 State Chairmen of the Legion and FCT Chairman.
Transparency and accountability remain fundamental principles in the administration of any statutory organization, especially one established to protect the interests and welfare of military veterans who have sacrificed greatly for the nation.
Members of the Nigerian Legion and the general public therefore call on the appropriate authority, being Legion Headquarters, to provide a comprehensive account of all monies realized from these recruitments of Corps of Commissionaires.
It is indeed on record and disheartening that certain allegations and facts of financial improprieties were raised against Mrs Morenike in the recent past which she did not care to give clear accounts in figures in respect of the funds. The present headquarters of the Nigerian Legion should know that military veterans expect clear responses and accounts, not dismissal of facts unearthed with the response ‘they are from the enemies’.
The military veterans and the general public therefore call on the Headquarters of Nigerian Legion to give clear and public accounts of figures of these money in order to ensure transparency, accountability, and compliance with the provisions of the laws and the Nigerian Legion Act.
