House of Reps Adopts Wholesale The Aviation Committee Report Indicting Minister Stella Oduah; Minister Denounces The House

Stella Oduah

The House of Representatives today has asked President Goodluck Jonathan to fire the Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah, over her purchase of two luxury and overpriced bulletproof cars through a department under her, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

The recommendation came today as the House adopted the report of its Committee on Aviation which investigated the purchase.

The House also wants the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to carry out further investigations of government official involved in the fraud, as well as Coscharis Motors, which supplied the cars.

Reacting through a prepared text, the Minister expressed “shock and disappointment” at the development, and suggested the House had a hidden motive right from the beginning.

“We recall vividly the underhand tactics of the House when, 24 long hours before the Report of the investigation was due to be laid before the Plenary, ‘’Certified True Copies’’ were handed over to online and traditional media,” a statement by the Minister’s Media aide, Joe Obi, said.  “The motive of those who handed the document to unauthorized persons has fully manifested in the adoption of the recommendations that have no reflection to the Public Hearing conducted in the full glare of Nigerians and the media.”

The statement insisted that due process was followed in the procurement of the vehicles, and that they were neither purchased for the Minister nor in her name.

“The action of the Committee and the House were pre-meditated with the sole aim of casting aspersion on the person and office of the Aviation Minister. We reiterate that the recommendations of the Committee do not reflect the actual course of proceedings at the Hearing. The Minister and the Ministry of Aviation however remain focused in the implementation of the Transformation Agenda of the Federal Government in the sector.”

In the report, which leaked to the media early in November, the Committee refused to accept a single submission made to it by Ms. Oduah, in essence calling her a serial liar. 

Among others, the committee concluded that:

• There was no appropriation for the purchase of the two cars, and stressed that a proposal by the NCAA for the purchase of the two cars had previously been rejected.
• It was not true as claimed by the Minister and the Director-General of NCAA claimed that the vehicles were purchased under a lease agreement with First Bank because that bank clearly testified that they were procured under an auto loan, a point substantiated by the loan agreement between NCAA and First Bank.”
• A false vehicle was presented to the committee for inspection, because while the document submitted indicated that the vehicles in question had BMW chassis numbers DW68044 and DW68032; the vehicles actually presented for inspection showed BMW chassis No. DW68044 and W68011.  The committee said it was therefore unable to authenticate the identity of W68011.

The adoption of the report by the House has now yielded a situation where a Minister indicted for corruption at the National Assembly continues to be retained in office by the executive, with that Minister clinging to the “Transformation Agenda of the Federal Government.”

President Goodluck Jonathan is yet to release the report of a three-man panel he set up to investigate the same issue.