Wow! Nigerians who have
expressed their displeasure at how Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah
spent $1.4 million on two cars would be shell-shocked when they find out
it she actually ordered six of such bulletproof cars, according to
reports by a group known as Investigative Reporters In Aviation (IRA).
Going
by this report, I can't seem to understand why she needed so many
bulletproof cars, who is after her life? Is this just another case of
excessive greed?
Here's how Reporters tell the story:
A
group known as Investigative Reporters In Aviation (IRA) has come out
with yet another bombshell on the wanton looting of the nation’s
financial resources by the Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah, and her
disorganization of the entire aviation sector.
Speaking for the
group, Mazi Kanayo Ochei, and Kenneth Uti President and Secretary
respectively, said their investigations reveal that in addition to the
two cars she forced the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to
purchase for her, she also forced the Nigerian Airspace Management
Agency (NAMA) and the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to buy
two each of the same brand of cars.
“I don’t understand why
Nigerian media are shouting about NCAA alone, when a total of six
bulletproof cars were actually purchased by the Minister on the bill of
three aviation agencies,” they said.
“Our work as IRA revealed
that while Nnamdi Udoh of NAMA bought two BMW, Joyce Nkemakolam (Acting
DG) of NCAA bought two BMW, and Mr. Uresi George of FAAN bought two
bullet-proof American specs limousine for the Minister of Aviation.”
They further stated that all the purchases were made from Coscharis Motors and cannot be denied.
“If
Nigerians really know the magnitude of the rot in the Aviation Industry
as at this moment, they will carry placards against this
administration,” the IRA officials said, noting that the FAAN is heading
for bankruptcy, with the MD on the verge of taking a bank loan to pay
workers’ salaries last month.
“The only option left for FAAN now
is to begin to use part of their statutory remittance to Federation
Account to offset their bills.”
On the part of NAMA, the IRA
described it as being in disarray, that nobody seems to know what is
going on and that the workers have completely lost confidence in the
Management. They noted that members of the NAMA staff have threatened on
several occasions in the recent past to embark on industrial action
based on poor conditions of service and heaps of unpaid allowances.
“IRA
further wants EFCC to call Coscharis Motors for questioning on the six
cars purchased by the Minister so as to get to the root of this issue,”
they said.
It would be recalled that on October 19, the
Director-General of the NCAA, Capt. Fola Akinkuotu, told a press
conference in Abuja that the Federal Government was hunting for the
whistleblower who leaked the story of the two scandalous armoured cars
the agency bought for Mrs. Oduah at a cost of N225m.
On October
21, SaharaReporters further reported that NAMA had also purchased four
Toyota Tundra vehicles for Mrs. Oduah in addition to four stretch
limousine cars that were said to have been bought for the transportation
of VIPs to the Ministry.
In a statement, Supo Atobatele, the General Manager of NAMA, attacked the report as “frivolous, malicious and mischievous.”
“We
hereby make it categorically clear to the unsuspecting public that this
evil story as being promoted, is patently false in its entirety and
calculated to put the agency and the office of the minister into
disrepute,” he said.
IRA has called on President Jonathan to
recognize that only a level-headed, matured and patriotic Minister can
help Nigerian Aviation industry, “not a self-seeking, corrupt and proud
person like Stella Oduah.”
Furthermore, the group said, “We also
want to advise the newly confirmed Director-General of NCAA Fola
Akinkotun to stop defending what he knows practically nothing about,
while we sympathize with his position, we advise him to stop making any
further reckless press statement in any futile attempt at defending
those who all Nigerians know how they ganged up to prevent him from
taking up the position of the DG NCAA for almost 5 months after he was
chosen by President Jonathan.”
This morning, George Uresi, the
chief executive officer of the FAAN admitted to a hearing of the Senate
Aviation Committee that the agency indeed bought four bullet proof cars
for Ms. Oduah at N70 million each.
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