CACOL’s Petition To EFCC Seeking Investigation Of Alleged Corrupt Activities Of Minister For Aviation, Ms Stella Oduah
Executive Chairman
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
Thro: Lagos Zonal Office
15A, Awolowo Road
Ikoyi
Lagos
Dear Sir,
CALL FOR COMPREHENSIVE INVESTIGATION INTO THE ALLEGED CORRUPT ACTIVITIES OF THE MINISTER FOR AVIATION, MS. STELLA ODUAH AND HER ACCOMPLICES
The Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL) as a group of civil-society, community-based and other non-governmental organizations with the objective of fighting corruption and corrupt persons by any means possible at all levels in Nigeria deemed it necessary to draw the attention of your Commission to the report of an online newspaper, Saharareporters.com that detailed the purchase of two BMW 760 Li HSS vehicles for the Minister of Aviation, Ms. Stella Oduah by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) at a whopping sum of $1.6m (N225millon).
The news medium reported on Tuesday, 15 October, 2013 that documents in its possession showed that the transaction for the purchase of the said cars started in June, but the request for delivery of and payment for was fast-tracked between August 13 and 15, 2013. The transaction, according to the report, involved the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, First Bank of Nigeria, and Coscharis Motors Limited.
Though the report was first dismissed as mere ‘rumour’ by the General Manager, Corporate Communications of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mr. Yakubu Datti, while granting an interview to another online newspaper, Premium Times; however, the Special Assistant on Media to the Minister on Aviation, Mr. Joe Obi, confirmed to the Punch Newspaper on Wednesday, 16 October, 2013 that the vehicles were purchased to protect his boss from external threats.
Mr. Joe Obi stated that since his boss (Ms. Oduah) took some bold steps in the Aviation Sector to review and terminate some agreements, some entrenched interests in the sector began to threaten her life; therefore the need for the armoured vehicles.
It is worthy to note that since the news came to the public domain last week, mum has the reaction of President Goodluck Jonathan who has busied himself with his preparations for his tour of Israel; except that the Director-General of the NCAA, Capt. Fola Akinkuotu called a Press Conference on Friday, October 18, 2013 where he claimed that the Federal Government has begun a manhunt for the whistleblower that broke the story to the public. Capt. Akinkuotu said that the Federal Government was concerned about how the information got leaked to the public, noting that whoever leaked the information committed a criminal offence.
It is also disheartening that the National Assembly that ought to have performed their oversight functions on the sector has not responded to the sleazy revelation. As a matter of fact, when the Deputy Spokesperson of the House of Representatives, Hon. Victor Afam Ogene (APGA-Anambra) was contacted by another newspaper, National Mirror, he claimed that he has not been following newspaper reports on the matter. That goes on to expose the communication gap between the Executive and the Legislators and has further exposed the lack of checks and balances in our own peculiar style of democratic practice which tend to pave way to high level corruption that has today assumed a dreaded monster in our national life.
These unfolding revelations are not only mind-boggling, but embarrassing as they have once again opened up the Pandora’s Box of the rots and high level of impunity in governance in Nigeria, with particular emphasis on the abuse of office, unguided recklessness and profligacy at the federal level.
That such a huge amount of money could be released for whatever reason, from the coffers of an agency that Ms. Stella Oduah’s Ministry superintends over, without being appropriated for in the current budget, requires, not just an investigation into the purchase itself, but into the process of procurement in its entirety. As a matter of fact, the armoured vehicle given to the Minister by the NCAA could have been given as a bribe to shield the agency (NCAA) from the stick of its supervisory ministry.
The cold shoulders turned by the Presidency and the National Assembly to the issue at stake leaves us with no option than to appeal to the anti-corruption agencies to wade into the matter. CACOL hereby urges your Agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to commence investigations into the activities of the Aviation Minister for abuse of office; we also urge you to probe the activities of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and other agencies under the Ministry of Aviation.
We also believe that, apart from probing the authenticity of the market cost of the said vehicles which, though, remains a subject of controversy, the source of authority and procedure should also be probed.
Conclusively, we urge your Commission to beam its investigative searchlight to other similar areas of government, in order to check this culture of impunity and recklessness in governance.
We anticipate your appreciation of the urgency of your actions on this matter and so thank you for the anticipated cooperation.
