Suspicion that Aviation Minister Stella Oduah might not
have actually procured the controversial N255million armoured cars is gaining
traction in the nation’s security circle, with operatives trying to understand
whether the minister merely masterminded a paper process to launder public
funds.
PREMIUM TIMES can authoritatively report today that the
bullet-proof cars are not on government’s official list of armoured cars
available anywhere in the country. Car dealers as well as end users of reinforced cars such
as those Mrs. Oduah claimed to have procured to ward off “imminent threats”,
are mandated to seek authorization from the office of the National Security
Adviser, NSA, before ordering or importing such vehicles into Nigeria.
Under that regulation, no car dealer or end user,
including private individuals, security agencies, and government parastatals
can bring in armoured cars into the country without obtaining end user
certificates from the office of the NSA in Abuja.
But reliable sources at the office of the NSA told PREMIUM
TIMES no authorization certificate was ever issued to either Minister Oduah or
the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, to procure the controversial
vehicles.
“We have thoroughly checked our list and I can confirm
that at no time did we issue end user certificate to anyone to procure any such
cars,” one of our sources said. “It is likely the cars do not exist and that
the documents were either forged to steal public funds. But if the cars indeed
exist, the minister, the NCAA and Coscharis Motors will have to explain why
they sneaked vehicles into our country without authorization.
“It is a serious violation, and the minister and other
people involved have a lot of explanations to make.”
Another source said the the National Security Adviser,
Sambo Dasuki, was appointed into the three-member administrative panel
appointed by President Goodluck Jonathan to probe the procurement of the cars
specifically to determine whether the purchase of the vehicles did not breach
Nigeria’s security regulations.
Contacted Thursday over the matter, Mr. Dasuki said he
would not comment on any aspect of his committee’s work because he is not the
chairman of the panel.
“My office is only serving as the committee’s
secretariat,” Mr. Dasuki said. “I am not the chairman. And you have to wait for
us to complete our work. The question you asked (whether end user certificate
was issued for the vehicles) is one of the issues we will look into.”
Although the NSA was evasive, top officials of his office
told this newspaper that an internal review had long established that the
controversial Stella Oduah’s cars are not on the lists of armoured cars known
to the authorities.
This new finding raises more doubt as to whether the cars
were procured reinforced, a reason the aviation ministry cited for the alarming
cost of the automobiles, or whether the cars were even bought at all.
There are suggestions the ministers and the NCAA prepared
the documents in circulation to cover up the looting of public funds.
That suggestion is strengthened by the refusal of the NCAA
and the minister to allow PREMIUM TIMES access to inspect the cars despite
initially claiming the vehicles were open to viewing by interested journalists.
The purchase of the cars have also been found to violate
Nigeria’s appropriation and procurement laws: the transaction was neither in
government budget nor was it advertised or openly bided for. The contract cost
is also believed to have been inflated multiple folds.
Together, the violations have added to widespread outrage
over the relevance of a multimillion car purchase when majority of Nigerians
cannot feed. Still, a more distressing possibility could be that the cars
were never purchased, and the deal was only sealed on paper as a cover for
money laundering.
The ministry of aviation and the NCAA, the agency directed
by Mrs Oduah to make the purchase for her, claim the two BMW sedans were
bought steel-clad to keep Mrs Oduah safe from “imminent threats”.
The NCAA director general, Fola Akinkuotu, said the
practice of using reinforced cars for conveying aviation ministers and foreign
aviation dignitaries-who he said were also beneficiaries of the cars-was a
standard global practice.
Amid mounting calls for Mrs Oduah’s removal, and for
sanctions against all aviation officials involved in the scam, President
Goodluck Jonathan named a three-member committee Wednesday to review the
contract and submit its findings in 14 days.
Separately, the minister, alongside NCAA officials, as
well as officials of Coscharis motors, the suppliers of the cars, and First
Bank Plc, the financiers, are to appear before the House of Representatives
standing aviation committee. The director general, Bureau of Public
Procurement, is also expected to attend the hearing.
Mrs. Oduah jetted out to Israel on Tuesday, travelling
with President Goodluck Jonathan for pilgrimage in Jerusalem. She was not
available for the House hearing Thursday.
Source: -Premium Times
No comments:
Post a Comment