Yesterday, I published the story from SaharaReporters of how Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority bought two bulletproof vehicles worth $1.6m (N255m) for the Minister of Aviation, Ms. Stella Oduah. Well according to Punch, the Ministry of Aviation has confirmed that fact.
The report stated that the documents in its possession showed
that the transaction for the purchase of the two BMW cars started in June, but
the request for the delivery of and payment for them was fast-tracked between
August 13 and 15, 2013.
The transaction involved the NCAA, First Bank of Nigeria,
and Coscharis Motors Limited, according to the report.
The two black BMW 760 Li HSS vehicles had chasis numbers
WBAHP41050DW68032 and WBAHP41010DW68044, and were reportedly delivered to the
NCAA on August 13, 2013. They were received by two store managers, F.
Onoabhagbe and Y. A. Amzat, who is also the agency’s head of transport.
Meanwhile, two major air crashes have occurred under
Oduah’s watch.
These were the Dana Air crash in Lagos on June 3, 2012, in
which 163 people died; and the Associated Airlines crash of October 3, 2013,
also in Lagos, which claimed 15 lives.
A day after the Associated Airlines’ crash, a Kabo
Airlines’ Boeing 747-400 plane carrying 512 pilgrims made an emergency landing
at the Sokoto airport with deflated tyres and damaged the airport’s Instrument
Landing System.
On Sunday, an IRS Airlines Fokker 100 plane carrying 99
passengers also made an emergency landing at the Kaduna airport, after
developing hydraulic problems mid-air.
Four days after the tragic crash involving Associated
Airlines’ Embraer 120 plane, Oduah described air accidents as God’s will that
were inevitable.
She said notwithstanding this reality, the Federal
Government would continue to ensure that there were no accidents.
The minister made the submission while fielding questions
from State House correspondents on investigations into the crash.
The minister said, “We do not pray for accidents but they
are inevitable. But we will continue to do everything to ensure that we do not
have accidents. But an accident is an act of God.
“Again, we do not speculate on the causes of
accidents. Until they happen, you cannot say this is the cause or that is
not the cause. But what is obvious and is the truth is that in aviation, there
are shared responsibilities, starting from the man that carries your luggage to
the man that makes sure that your boarding pass is issued to you.
“And so, the regulatory agency, the operators, the
management, everybody has his/her responsibility and all must work in
tandem for there to be an optimal, secure and safe aviation sector in the
country. And that is what we have been working on.”
Oduah described those saying that she left the issue of
safety in the airspace to dwell on money-making ventures as ignorant.
However, much criticism had since followed her comment.
She had explained that security and safety could not be
achieved without proper funding.
However, the Special Assistant (Media) to the Minister of
Aviation, Mr. Joe Obi, who confirmed the development on Wednesday, said the
vehicles were purchased to protect the minister from some external threats.
He said in a telephone conversation with our
correspondent, “Yes, it is true that some security vehicles were procured for
the use of the office of the honourable minister in response to the clear and
imminent threat to her personal security and life following the bold steps she
took to reposition the sector.
“When she came on board as the minister, she inherited a
lot of baggage in terms of the concession and lease agreements in the sector,
which were clearly not in the interest of the government and people of Nigeria.
“And so, she took bold steps and some of these agreements
were reviewed and some were terminated, and these moves disturbed some entrenched
interests in the sector, and within this period, she began to receive some
imminent threats to her life; therefore, the need for the vehicles.
“It should be noted that these vehicles are not personal
vehicles and were not procured in the name of the honourable minister; they are
utility vehicles and are for the office of the minister, and if she leaves the
office, she will not be taking the vehicles along with her.”
On his part, the spokesperson for the NCAA, Mr. Fan
Ndubuike, feigned ignorance of the development.
“I am not aware of anything like that,” he told our
correspondent at 8.05pm on Wednesday.
The NCAA is the agency charged with ensuring the
airworthiness of commercial planes flying within the country’s airspace.
The agency has been under fire lately over a series of
mishaps and near crashes involving planes being operated by domestic airlines
that were certified fit for flight operations by the NCAA.
There have also been rumours that the NCAA does not have
enough funds to upgrade its equipment, send its employees for critical training
and hire enough qualified hands, while questions are also being raised by
industry watchers on the ability of the cash-strapped agency to procure such
expensive vehicles.
However, the Director-General, NCAA, Capt. Fola Akinkuotu,
had on Monday denied the claims of being cash-strapped, saying that the agency
was buoyant.
He said, “We are not broke, we have been carrying out all
our responsibilities and have been undertaking the training of our staff as and
when due.
“I can tell you that right now, some of our staff members
are undergoing training abroad and we still have others that are waiting for
approval; we do not joke with training here and I challenge anyone to come up
with anything otherwise to that effect.”
Source: Punch
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