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Tag: Oduah

  • EFCC alleges judge’s bias in Oduah’s case, others

    EFCC alleges judge’s bias in Oduah’s case, others

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has approached the Federal High Court, Lagos for an order disqualifying Justice M. N. Yunusa from handling its six  cases before his court.

    It demanded that the six case files be returned to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Ibrahim Auta, for reassignment.

    The cases include those of the $2m cash seized at the Lagos airport and the one involving a former Minister of Aviation, Sen. Stella Oduah.

    The EFCC is protesting against Justice Yinusa’s order restraining the commission from arresting the former minister.

    The EFCC made the plea in an “Affidavit of Urgency” filed on Tuesday before the court by one of its lawyers.

    The anti-graft agency is praying for an order disqualifying Justice Yunusa from further hearing of the cases.

    It said: “The cases include: Mr Jyde Adelakun and Touch of Flame Energy Company Limited vs. Chairman, EFCC and Ibelema Bristol in suit number: FHC/ L/ CS/ 1285/2015; Federal Republic of Nigeria vs. Michael Adenuga in Suit Number: FHC/L/CS/ 487/ 2014 ; Honourable Shamsudeen Abogu vs. EFCC and Others in suit number: FHC/L/ CS/ 1269/2015; Dele Martins vs. EFCC and Others in suit number: FHC//L/CS/1623/2015 and Chike Obiakor vs. EFCC and Others in suit number: FHC/ L/ CS/2011/2014.

    The Commission hinged its request on the grounds of “bias and denial of fair hearing” by Justice Yunusa.

    “In one of the cases, particularly the matter between Jyde Adelakun and Touch of Flame Energy Company Limited vs. Chairman, EFCC and Ibelema Bristol, the EFCC sought a consolidation of the suit number FHC/L/CS/1285/2015 and suit number FHC/L/CS/1165/2015 but the application was ignored.

    “Besides, a pending Court Order freezing the bank accounts of Adelakun and Touch of Flame Energy Company Limited (who are being investigated in a case of money laundering involving over $2,000,000.00 was communicated to Justice Yunusa, with an application for a short adjournment to enable the EFCC file an affidavit to exhibit the Order.

    “Justice Yunusa reportedly turned down the application and even refused an oral application to this effect, but went ahead to fix September 23rd, 2015 for judgment.”

     The EFCC believes that “having regard to the events that took place before the court during the proceedings on 21st September, it will not get justice except the case is re-assigned to another judge”.

    The anti-graft agency asked for the return of the case files to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court for reassignment.

     The document added: “The EFCC believes that “having regard to the events that took place before the court during the proceedings on 21st September, it will not get justice except the case is re-assigned to another judge”.

    “Also, the EFCC is outraged by a fresh order of Interim Injunction granted by Justice Yunusa,  restraining it from ‘arresting, detaining, harassing, intimidating, preventing, refusing, interfering with and /or denying’ one of its suspects being investigated,  his right to personal liberty and freedom of movement into, within and outside Nigeria.

    “The suspect, Dr. Martins Olufemi Thomas, is being investigated by the EFCC for ownership and movement of the sum of $2,200,000.00.

    “This ex parte order is coming on the heels of similar order by the same judge, barring the EFCC from investigating or arresting a former Aviation Minister, Stella Oduah.

    “Justifying its grounds for seeking the disqualification of Justice Yunusa, the EFCC says that “if this application is not granted and the trial judge fails to disqualify himself, the fundamental rights of the Commission to fair hearing will be infringed.

    “It is further submitted that it is the law that any proceedings conducted in breach of the fundamental right to fair hearing is a nullity, no matter how well conducted.”

  • Bulletproof cars: EFCC, IGP fail to appear in Oduah’s suit

    Bulletproof cars: EFCC, IGP fail to appear in Oduah’s suit

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Inspector-General of Police yesterday failed to send lawyers for the hearing of a suit filed by a former Minister of Aviation Stella Oduah.

    Justice Mohammed Yunusa of the Federal High Court in Lagos, on August 26, restrained them from questioning or arresting her for the purchase of two bulletproof vehicles until her suit was determined.

    The vehicles, bought under her watch as Aviation minister, were said to have cost N255 million, an amount that sparked outrage.

    The judge also stopped the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), the Attorney-General of the Federation and the IGP from inviting the former minister for interrogation.

    The EFCC, it was learnt, did not file any application to discharge the restraining order within the time allowed.

    Justice Yunusa had adjourned hearing to October 2, but the matter was, however, listed for hearing yesterday, apparently due to its urgency.

    The court’s registrar said hearing notices were issued to parties, but as proceedings commenced, no lawyer announced appearance for Oduah, EFCC and IGP.

    But ICPC was represented by Ms. Funmilola Oluborode, who said the commission did not receive a hearing notice.

    According to her, she was directed to to represent ICPC by a superior, who got to know the case was coming up for hearing after seeing it in the causelist.

    The ICPC lawyer said since other parties were not represented, there was nothing she could do alone. She sought an adjournment.

    Oluborode said ICPC was yet to file any response to Oduah’s suit and asked for time to enable the commission file its defence.

    Justice Yunusa said the suit was a fundamental rights’ enforcement action, which deserved urgent hearing.

    Oduah, in a supporting affidavit, justified the 2013 purchase of two bullet-proof BMW cars by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

    The former minister, who represents Anambra North in the Senate, said the vehicles were bought for the use of International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) officials, who were in the country to inspect and certify the 22 airports being rehabilitated under her watch.

    According to her, the vehicles were acquired to safeguard the foreign officials so that they would not be attacked by the rampaging Boko Haram insurgents, who were causing havoc in the Northeast.

    Oduah said the bullet proof cars were necessary because the visit of the airport inspectors coincided with “the peak of Boko Haram terrorists’ menace when the United Nations building and the headquarters of the Nigeria Police Force were bombed in Abuja.”

    According to her, the House of Representatives, led by Aminu Tambuwal (now Sokoto State governor), and its Committee on Aviation, were especially out to get her.

    But the lawmakers’ move, she said, was part of a grand plan by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to capture power by all means.

    The party, she said, carried out a campaign of calumny by “demonising” the most visible leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Being a frontline PDP member, she also became a target, especially as she was seen as playing a crucial role towards the realisation of President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election bid.

    She said as part of the APC’s campaign of calumny against her and others, the party’s leadership commissioned some faceless organisations to write letters to the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation.

    Among others, she said she was falsely accused of “all manner of corrupt practices and offences in respect of my stewardship as minister of Aviation.”

    Oduah said was shocked by the allegations because the Aviation ministry, under her watch, was run in the cleanest manner imaginable.

    She said because of her electoral value and strategic politicking, she had been a target of the ploy by the APC to weaken the PDP and distract its leaders on trumped-up charges.

    According to her, part of the APC plan was to charge PDP leaders “in a criminal trial in a Lagos State government-controlled court.”

    Oduah said unless the court intervened, “the APC will unleash repression against her and others and this may cause the country to recede to a one-party state, with gross adverse effects and irreparable damage to our nascent democracy.”

    Justice Yunusa adjourned to November 16.

  • Bulletproof cars: EFCC urges court to dismiss Oduah’s suit

    Bulletproof cars: EFCC urges court to dismiss Oduah’s suit

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday urged the Federal High Court in Lagos to dismiss a suit by a former Minister of Aviation, Senator Stella Oduah, seeking to stop her invitation for interrogation for the purchase of bulletproof cars.

    It filed a notice of preliminary objection to the suit, contending that the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain it.

    Justice Mohammed Yunusa, on August 26, barred the commission from arresting Oduah until her suit is determined.

    The judge also stopped the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), the Attorney-General of the Federation and the Inspector-General of Police from questioning the former minister.

    EFCC, in its preliminary objection, said besides the lack of jurisdiction, there was no valid basis for the action.

    According to the anti-graft agency, the suit was wrongly filed in Lagos because the subject matter took place in Abuja.

    EFCC said Oduah’s claims were baseless and speculative as there was no concrete evidence that she was about to be questioned.

    It added that the senator did not show enough material fact to justify her claim that she was about to be invited or arrested.

    The commission urged the court to reject Oduah’s suit for lacking in merit.

    Oduah, in her suit, justified the 2013 purchase of two bullet-proof BMW cars by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA). The vehicles were said to have cost N255million, an amount that sparked outrage.

    Oduah, who represents Anambra North in the Senate, said there was a move by the respondents to persecute and humiliate her.

    She, however, explained that the vehicles were bought for the use of International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) officials who were in the country to inspect and certify the 22 airports being rehabilitated under her watch.

    According to her, the vehicles were acquired to safeguard the foreign officials’ lives so that they would not be bombed, attacked or abducted by the rampaging Boko Haram insurgents who were creating havoc in the Northeast.

    Oduah said the bullet proof cars were especially necessary because the visit of the airport inspectors coincided with “the peak of Boko Haram terrorists’ menace in the country, when the United Nations building and the headquarters of the Nigeria Police Force were bombed in Abuja.”

    “It was thus imperative that the NCAA, which is an apex regulatory authority in the Nigerian aviation industry, operating under the SARPs of the ICAO and subject to assessment by ICAO, acquire its own armoured vehicles for the use of the ICAO officials coming for inspection and certification at the time,” Oduah said.

    She added that the bullet-proof vehicles were captured in the 2013 budget, adding that they were duly procured in line with the Bureau of Public Procurement regulations.

    She said the respondents would be doing the bidding of her political enemies if they are not stopped.

    In the papers she filed before the court, the former minister said the bid to arrest her for a crime she did not commit began as the general election approached.

    According to her, the House of Representatives, led by Aminu Tambuwal (now Sokoto State governor), and its Committee on Aviation, were especially out to get her.

    But the lawmakers’ move, she said, was part of a grand plan by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to capture power by all means.

    The party, she said, carried out a campaign of calumny by “demonising” the most visible leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Being a frontline PDP member, she also became a target, especially as she was seen as playing a crucial role towards the realisation of President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election bid.

    She said as part of the APC’s campaign of calumny against her and others, the party’s leadership commissioned some faceless organisations to write letters to the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation.

    Among others, she said she was falsely accused of “all manners of corrupt practices and offences in respect of my stewardship as minister of Aviation.”

    Oduah said she was shocked by the allegations because the Aviation Ministry under her watch was run in the cleanest manner imaginable.

    The former minister said despite her selfless service to Nigeria and the positive changes made by the ministry under her watch, including the revamping of the country’s air transportation, Tambuwal still ordered her investigation based on the petitions containing “spurious and wild allegations.”

    She said because of her electoral value and strategic politicking, she had been a target of the ploy by the APC to weaken the PDP and distract its leaders with trumped up charges.

    According to her, part of the APC plan was to charge PDP leaders “in a criminal trial in a Lagos State government-controlled court.”

    Oduah said unless the court intervened, “the APC will unleash repression against her and others and this may cause the country to recede to a one-party state, with gross adverse effects and irreparable damage to our nascent democracy.”

    Justice Yunusa adjourned to October 2 for hearing of her suit.

  • Why I approved bulletproof cars’ purchase, by Oduah

    Why I approved bulletproof cars’ purchase, by Oduah

    A former Minister of Aviation, Senator Stella Oduah, has justified the 2013 purchase of two bulletproof BMW cars by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

    She told the Federal High Court in Lagos that the cars were not bought for her personal use.

    The court, however, restrained anti-graft agencies from inviting her for questioning concerning the purchase.

    The vehicles were said to have cost N255million, an amount that sparked outrage.

    Justice Mohammed Yunusa barred the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from arresting Oduah until her suit is determined.

    A copy of the order, made on August 26, was obtained by our correspondent yesterday.

    The judge also stopped the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), the Attorney-General of the Federation and the Inspector-General of Police from inviting the former minister for interrogation.

    Oduah, who represents Anambra North in the Senate, said there was a move by the respondents to persecute and humiliate her.

    She, however, explained that the vehicles were bought for the use of International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) officials, who were in the country to inspect and certify the 22 airports being rehabilitated under her watch.

    According to her, the vehicles were acquired to safeguard the foreign officials lives so that they would not be bombed, attacked or abducted by the rampaging Boko Haram insurgents, who were creating havoc in the Northeast.

    Oduah said the bulletproof cars were especially necessary because the visit of the airport inspectors coincided with “the peak of Boko Haram terrorists’ menace in the country, when the United Nations building and the headquarters of the Nigeria Police Force were bombed in Abuja.”

    “It was thus imperative that the NCAA, which is an apex regulatory authority in the Nigerian aviation industry, operating under the SARPs of the ICAO and subject to assessment by ICAO, acquire its own armoured vehicles for the use of the ICAO officials coming for inspection and certification at the time,” Oduah said.

    She added that the bullet-proof vehicles were captured in the 2013 budget, adding that they were duly procured in line with the Bureau of Public Procurement regulations.

    The ex-minister said upon her assumption of office in 2011, she “quickly realised that the quest for direct foreign investment in Nigeria could not be optimally successful without world standard airports for international and domestic air travels.”

    Because of this, she said, she directed that the proposal of N9billion made for the rehabilitation of four airports be made to cover the 22 airports.

    She said the respondents would be doing the bidding of her political enemies if they were not stopped.

    In the papers she filed before the court, the former minister said the bid to arrest her for a crime she did not commit began as the general election approached.

    According to her, the House of Representatives, led by Aminu Tambuwal (now Sokoto State governor), and its Committee on Aviation, were especially out to get her.

    But the lawmakers’ move, she said, was part of a grand plan by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to capture power by all means.

    The party, she said, carried out a campaign of calumny by “demonising” the most visible leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Being a frontline PDP member, she also became a target, especially as she was seen as playing a crucial role towards the realisation of President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election bid.

    She said as part of the APC’s campaign of calumny against her and others, the party’s leadership commissioned some faceless organisations to write letters to the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation.

    Among others, she said she was falsely accused of “all manners of corrupt practices and offences in respect of my stewardship as Minister of Aviation.”

    Oduah said was shocked by the allegations because the aviation ministry under her watch was run in the cleanest manner imaginable.

    The former minister said despite her selfless service to Nigeria and the posive changes made by the ministry under her  watch, including the revamping of the country’s air transportation, Tambuwal still ordered her investigation based on the petitions containing “spurious and wild allegations.”

    She said because of her electoral value and strategic politicking, she had been a target of the ploy by the APC to weaken the PDP and distract its leaders with trumped up charges.

    According to her, part of the APC plan was to charge PDP leaders “in a criminal trial in a Lagos State Government-controlled court.”

    Oduah said unless the court intervened, “the APC will unleash repression against her and others and this may cause the country to recede to a one-party state, with gross adverse effects and irreparable damage to our nascent democracy.”

    Justice Yunusa adjourned to October 2 for hearing of her suit.

  • Re: Oduah: Canonising corruption

    Sir: I read with utmost disappointment a letter with the above title in your esteemed newspaper where one Babatope Babalobi vented his frustration against the former aviation minister, Stella Adaeze Oduah.  Ordinarily, such deliberate and cowardly writing deserves no attention but for the purposes of decency, good conscience and posterity, it becomes necessary to correct certain impressions in order to answer some questions concerning the issues raised in the article.

    It is  not true that the former aviation minister was found guilty of any criminal matter by any court in the land for any wrong doing as to prevent her from holding any elective or public office in the country. The issues under reference emanated from disputed cost of bullet-proof BMW cars meant for her ministry. She  did not steal the money or failed to purchase the cars. She also did not ride in them.

    But at the heat of it all, she opted to leave the office in dignity.  Not many Nigerians holding public office would bow out with humility and dignity as she did.

    Princess Oduah cannot be said to be a saint but it should be noted that there is no office or ministry that has never been mired in more serious controversies. Please check the records.      Why Babatope Babalobi after a very long time since the imbroglio suddenly became exceptionally aggrieved raises so many questions.

    Is this not a hatchet job against the Princess over her victory in her senatorial ambition?

    On the issue of Oduah’s academic standing, whose interest is Babalobi protecting or does he not know where to lodge his complaint? ls it the Phd holders, engineers and professors who held sway in the aviation industry when our airports were mere motorparks and our aeroplanes dubbed flying coffings?

    Today, Oduah has recorded history as the amazon of the aviation industry whose positive contribution in the sector will remain indelible.  In his jaundiced view, Babalobi failed to commend Oduah for upgrading Nigerian airports to compete with those of the civilised world. If no other people are proud of Oduah, the Igbos are because the feat she performed at the Enugu airport, lifting it to international standard is remarkable not to talk of approval for Asaba airport.

    Concerning her victory at the PDP primaries, it showed how popular and likeable she is among the people. For the avoidance of doubt, unless the PDP wants to lose the Anambra North senatorial seat, they should not field another candidate. In the senatorial district, Oduah has touched the lives of many in practical terms. She has a foundation that has given succour to widows, scholarship to the indigent, employment to the unemployed, loans to farmers, promotion of sports talents etc.

    Oduah’s life is full of achievements which have really not gotten into her head. She has respect for the elderly, priests and religious leaders irrespective of denomination.

     

    Chukwunwike Ononye, 

    Akili Ozizor, Anambra State

  • Oduah: Canonising corruption

    SIR: Princess Stella Oduah is set to return to public office with her nomination last weekend as the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for Anambra Senatorial seat. According to media reports, she defeated the incumbent representing the zone- Margery Okadigbo by 259 to eight votes.

    Oduah was Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation until February, when she was dropped from President Jonathan’s cabinet. Though no official explanation was given for her ‘sack’, her critics claimed victory, saying it was in a subtle Presidential response to  Oduahgate, an acronym that epitomizes and summarizes the national hoopla, odium, and obloquy on the  ministerial approval she gave for the purchase of two bullet proof armored BWM cars for  scandalous sum of N225m (N255m?). The princely and obviously inflated cars were meant for her official use, as the then Minister of Aviation.

    A Presidential panel that inquired into the transactions reportedly indicted her, though typical of similar reports,  the findings and recommendations were never made public, nor implemented by the Jonathan’s administration.  Also, a Committee of the House of Representative similarly indicted the Anambra Princess; and not surprisingly the report has not been officially tabled for discussion in the plenary of the House of Representative.

    Stella Oduah educational qualifications and certifications is also mired in several controversies, as the Masters and Doctorate degrees she claims from American university have been questioned.

    Against this backdrop, it is therefore highly politically instructive that the disgraced former Minister is staging a comeback to public life, through the ruling party that unceremoniously dropped her from the cabinet and she may soon become one of the ‘Distinguished Senators’ making laws for the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Whether she eventually wins the senatorial election in the 2015 general elections is not relevant for this analysis. The mere fact that a Federal Minister ‘sacked for waste of public funds, could pick a Senatorial ticket less than 12 months afterwards, is poignant for understanding Nigeria’s politics.

    Her political victory affirms the long held notion that Nigerians are not only corrupt, but corruption is official. On the part of the party that qualified her to contest in the first instance, it shows corruption is the official manifesto of the PDP; while the message from the people that voted for her in the party primaries is that issues, are not relevant in deciding political fortunes or misfortunes. As far as her people are concerned she has done so well in spite of the myriads of allegations against her, and she should go back to go and scoop more of the national cake.

    Her victory in her party’s primaries also shows that the future for good governance in Nigeria is bleak, under the present political system. Nigeria’s political system glorifies money over ideas, recycles ineptitude over diligence, and canonizes corruption over integrity.

    Her coming also exposes the ineptitude, indolence, helplessness, and irrelevance of Nigeria’s anti-corruption agencies. Gone are the days, when the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFFCC) would threaten and bark that past public officers being investigated for corrupt practices, would not be allowed to contest for public offices. The EFCC of today has been castrated by the powers-that-be, and has become an impotent bull dog, that cannot even bark, not to talk of biting. The EFCC is a passive observer of the primitive distribution and allocation of our collective wealth among the governing and ruling class. Like a castrated dog, the EFCC now watches helplessly, when certified corrupt public officers are flaunting their putrid opulence, and pitching the noses of those who had the temerity to accuse them of malfeasance.

     • Babatope Babalobi,

     Coordinator, Movement for Revolutionary Change,

    Lagos 

  • EFCC grills Oduah for five hours

    EFCC grills Oduah for five hours

    FORMER Aviation Minister Stella Oduah was a guest of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday.

    She was grilled for about five and half hours over the N255million bulletproof cars’ scam, which led to her sack.

    The ex-minister got a provisional bail following the need to re-invite her for more questioning. But it was unclear last night when Oduah will return to the commission.

    A team is analysing the ex-minister’s response to identify areas for further clarification.

    It was gathered that Oduah arrived quietly at the EFCC Headquarters in Abuja at about 10am.

    She was ushered into the Operations Department of the anti-graft agency where she was questioned till 3.30pm.

    A source, who spoke in confidence, described Oduah’s mood as “pensive”.

    The source said: “The team asked her to explain what led to the purchase of two bulletproof (armoured cars) for N255million; the purpose; and whether there was appropriation for it or not in the 2013 budget.

    “She was asked for evidence of due process or concurrence/ approval by the Bureau of Public Procurement and whether her approval value was not above the limit of Ministerial Tenders Board or not.

    “She was also asked to confirm if she was aware that the approved revised thresholds for service wide application (pursuant to Section 16(2) Public Procurement Act 2009 put a minister’s limit at N100million.”

    Another source said: “We also isolated issues raised by former heads of agencies in the aviation industry when they appeared before EFCC. She was directed to make some clarifications.

    “This interrogation is just the first in the series. We will study her statement on oath and definitely ask follow-up questions.”

    Responding to a question, the source added that the EFCC was in receipt of the reports of an Administrative Committee set up by President Goodluck Jonathan and House of Representatives Committee on Aviation on the car scam.”

    Oduah got a “provisional bail”. This is the first time the EFCC has given a provisional bail. The agency is known for “administrative bail” system.

    An official of the commission said: “The provisional bail is a temporary measure. If there is need to detain her subsequently, we will do so.

    “She has been told that she might be re-invited soon by the commission.”

    The President, on February 11, sacked Ms Oduah from the cabinet alongside three others.

    Others are: Godswill Orubebe (Niger Delta), Caleb Olubolade (Police Affairs) and Yerima Ngama (State for Finance).

    Prior to her sack, the President in October 2013, set up a three-man Administrative Panel of Inquiry into the car scandal.

    The panel comprised a former Head of Service of the Federation, Alhaji Sali Bello, the National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd.) and Air Vice Marshal Dick Iruenebere (rtd.).

    Also, the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation investigated the scandal.

    The Committee listed 12 infractions against Oduah and made some recommendations.

    The report said in part: “Based on the findings of the Committee and in line with its terms of reference, the following recommendations are made:

    •Given the fact that the two BMW armoured vehicles procured in the process were not provided for in the 2013 Appropriation Law nor was due process followed in their procurement, the Ministry of Aviation and NCAA should terminate with immediate effect all transactions and loan agreement it entered into with First Bank Nigeria Plc and all contracts awarded thereto;

    •That all monies so far spent on the entire transaction should be recovered and returned back to the Federation Account;

    •The President, Federal Republic of Nigeria should review the continued engagement of the Hon. Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah, having contravened the Appropriation Act and Approved Revised Thresholds by exceeding her approval limit of N100m with the purchase of 54 vehicles value at N643m

    •That EFCC and other relevant anti-corruption agencies should: (a) Further investigate the discrepancies in the chassis Number DW68032 of the vehicles on the one reported to be delivered and the one inspected by the committee; and (b) Further investigate and if found wanting, prosecute all persons/ institutions involved in the transaction

    •The former Acting DG, Mr. Nkemakola Joyce and Director of Finance, Mr. S. Ozigi, should be sanctioned in accordance with the Civil Service Rules for deliberately breaching the 2013 Appropriation Act/ Extant Laws of the Federation

    •That Coscharis Motors Nigeria Limited should be investigated on the issue of waiver, source and exact cost of the two BMW vehicles supplied to NCAA;

    •Coscharis should be made to pay the value of the waiver into treasury account.

  • I acted right, says Oduah in valedictory speech

    I acted right, says Oduah in valedictory speech

    Former Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah, yesterday justified her deeds in office, saying that she acted with dignity.

    Appraising herself before a gathering of stakeholders in the aviation industry, including civil servants and pilots, Oduah, whose tenure was rocked by her purchase of two bulletproof cars for N255 million, insisted that she did “the right thing” while in office.

    She said because there is dignity in labour, she did her beat, urging the stakeholders to also do their beats for posterity to judge them fairly.

    She said she was sure that with the support of the stakeholders, her successor would “do the needful,” noting that a structure is already in place for her successor to exceed the feat she recorded.

    Oduah maintained that Nigerians deserved selfless service, which she said the ministry and stakeholders under her watch collectively offered.

    The former minister was in high spirits throughout the session.

    With a retinue of admirers, she strolled into the Protea Hotel, Asokoro venue of the event at 12.06 pm in a purple gown with silver embroidery and a purple head tie to match.

    She ignored the speech her media aide, Mr. Joe Obi, prepared for her and spoke extempore .

    Oduah said : “I want to thank everybody in the ministry for their support. It was Einstein that said I am strong as I am because you allowed me to stand on your shoulders, and all of you here allowed me to stand on your shoulders and so I want to say thank you.

    “Most of you don’t know Obi. He likes to write and he has given me five pages to read. Obi, my apologies, I want to decline.

    “I am not going to read this because I really don’t have anything to say but to say that what we did, we did it collectively.

    “And what we did, we did for our people, and I say Nigerian people deserve what we have done and I believe that anyone who is coming next will do far better than what we have done because the structures are there, the roadmap is there, the compass is there.

    “They cannot but follow what is already in place. Anything other than that will be disservice to Nigerian people, and aviation is pivotal to our growth.

    “Therefore, the next coming person, I believe with your support will do the needful. Most people don’t understand what the needful means…

    “Today is a day for me to tell Nigerians that there is dignity in labour. You must do anything and everything in prioritising what Nigerian people need and what they deserve, and when you do that, posterity will not judge you unfairly.

    “Also when we started, we did not play to the gallery. We did not prioritise the media because it was not about them; it was about Nigerian people; it was about doing the right thing. And without being immodest, I think we did the right thing, I think we have done our beat and we pray that the next people will do their beats. And if all of us continue doing our beats, Nigeria will become transformed.

    “I want to thank Mr. President for the opportunity given to serve in spite the large population, it is a privilege and i am indeed privileged to serve Nigerians and i thank everyone for their support.”

  • Oduah and transformation of the aviation sector

    Oduah and transformation of the aviation sector

    The aviation sector is naturally defined by turbulence, so it was not entirely unexpected that the tenure of the former Minister of Aviation Princess Stella AdaezeOduah was characteristically turbulent from the onset. For one, her appointment was greeted with scepticism, and later; stiff resistance by the ubiquitous ‘stakeholders’ who frowned at the audacity of the President in giving them a total stranger as captain to pilotan otherwise technical and complex machine. It was from this group of ‘stakeholders’, an internecine clan that had held the sector down for decades, that Oduah faced the toughest challenge and resistance throughout her tenure.

    In the end, she prevailed, and was able to prove that it takes more than being a Pilot, an Aeronautical engineer, or an Air Traffic Controller to run the aviation sector. More than anything else, she has proved that with true, visionary, focused and determined leadership, government can indeed work and deliver expected results.

    At first sight Oduah appeared weak, even vulnerable. But behind this quiet, unassuming mien lay a steely determination. Working up-close with, and for her for two and a half years, I am not surprised how and why she achieved so much in so short a period. She is not one to be easily intimidated by challenges or distracted by some irritants. On assumption of office, in spite of the open defiance by industry ‘stakeholders’, she embraced everyone, held extensive and exhaustive consultations, empanelled committees, studied volumes of previous reports from the World Bank and other reputable international consulting firms, and burnt thousands of hours of the midnight oil to fashion out the Way Forward for the hitherto beleaguered industry.

    The result of this painstaking toil was the production, for the first time in the history of the nation’s aviation industry, of an Aviation Sector Master Plan and Implementation Road. It was this document that provided the compass for the revival and transformational revolution witnessed in the sector in the past two and a half years. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I would like to re-state, for the umpteenth time, that the aviation sector was in a terrible and seemingly irretrievable state of decay and dilapidation when Stella Oduah came on board in July of 2011.

    All 22 federally owned airports, including the international gateways, were nothing more than glorified goat-sheds. The toilets, for instance, smelt so repugnantly. The safety and security infrastructure, the fulcrum of safe aviation operations were in most instances unavailable, obsolete or unserviceable.

    Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mr George Ureisi readily cites the instance of the deplorable state of infrastructure in the sector with the fate that befell the generators at the MMIA, Lagos. The airport, according to him was constructed in 1977 and five brand new generators came with the airport then. As the years rolled by, and as a result of poor maintenance culture and lack of foresight by those at the helm of affairs in the sector, the generators started breaking down one after the other. But in a primitively ingenious manner, the fifth generator was cannibalised to service four, the fourth was subsequently cannibalised to service three, the third and second suffered the same faith until only one generator was left as at 2011 when Oduah came on board. That explains the frequency of the endemic power failures at the airport then. The fate that befell the generators is symptomatic of the criminal neglect of the facilities and infrastructure across all 22 airports in the country pre-2011.

    Today, a brand new power generating system has been procured and installed, putting a final end to the disgraceful regime of power failures at the airport, courtesy of the Oduah revolution. Now, Ureisi is seeking a national honours award for the single generator that served the airport, even if epileptically for so many years after her ‘brothers’ were so brutally dismembered by a succession of callous and insensitive administrations in the sector. The Oduah revolution has also seen all 22 federally -owned airports completely reconstructed, remodelled, and transformed.

    Today the edifices wear fresh, dignifying look and ambiences comparable to other airports around the world. The icing on the cake is the commencement of the construction of five state-of-the-arts international terminals in Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Enugu and Kano that will be delivered to Nigerians in 2015. Construction work has also commenced in 16 Perishable Cargo terminals across the country to empower rural farmers and transform rural communities. The aerotropolis project concept will also usher in industrial clusters in and around major airports in the country, creating millions of jobs and transforming airports to global cities.

    In the area of safety, monumental milestones were also recorded. NAMA’s Total Radar Coverage of Nigeria (TRACON), state-of-the-arts surveillance and communications equipment, airfield lighting, multi-lateration and other Instrument Landing Systems; NiMet’s Doppler Weather Radars, Wind Shear Alerts Systems, Instrument Calibration equipment; AIB’s Flight Data Analysis Laboratory, to mention but a few are some of the safety-critical infrastructure that were lacking in the industry pre-2011 but that exist today to enhance air safety in Nigeria. The Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT) has been strengthened and repositioned to become the prime aviation manpower training institute on the African continent, just as the NCAA has been strengthened to provide the required regulatory oversight of the sector in line with international standards and best practice.

    No doubt, the reforms institutionalised by the immediate past aviation minister have revolutionised and transformed the aviation sector positively forever. The achievements intimidated and overwhelmed her traducers. Within the entrenched interests in the sector are those operating without licences, debtors who, for decades have refused to meet their obligations to the agencies, those with dubious concession and lease agreements, amongst others who hitherto operated with impunity but were rightfully reined in by the fearless Oduah.

    One thing is however certain – they cannot obliterate the indelible footprints Princess Stella Adaeze left behind in the aviation sector. Obviously, those who have held the sector by the jugular for over four decades neither wanted nor welcomed the Oduah brand of transformation that did not line their personal pockets with billions of naira of the taxpayers’ hard-earned money.

    Personally, I was at onceboth fascinated and beholden by her work ethic and incredible amount of energy. She was driven by results and the passion with which she brought to bear on her vision and mission for the sector ensured she exceeded all expectations. She bows out with her head not bowed, but held up high with pride, knowing in that self-assured manner that she left the aviation sector miles ahead of where she met it and in the process, set a bar and benchmark that will take long to either match or surpass. She remains profoundly grateful to President Jonathan for offering her the opportunity to prove her mettle. And out of government, her faith in the President’s ability to transform Nigeria, as in 2007, remains undiluted.

    The challenge before her successor(s) is that of keeping the dream alive and sustaining the tempo of the transformation already wrought on the sector. The fear, the reasonable fear is that this may be a far-fetched dream, after all. Not everyone, of course is Princess Stella AdaezeOduah, the amazon of ”uncommon transformation” in the aviation sector.

    •Obi was Special

    Assistant (Media) to the immediate past Minister of Aviation.

  • Good riddance

    Good riddance

    At last, the President sums up courage; fires controversial Stella Oduah

    Whether President Goodluck Jonathan finally got his mind made up for him, or he made it up by himself; or whether the President asked the embattled former Minister of Aviation, Ms Stella Oduah, to resign or he gave her the boot, what is important is that Ms Oduah is no more a minister of the Federal Republic. If the President studied the newspapers on Thursday when the news made the headlines, he must have seen that the other ministers that also lost their jobs: Police Affairs Minister Caleb Olubolade, Minister of Niger Delta, Godsday Orubebe and Minister of State for Finance, Yerima Ngama, were more or less footnotes in the matter. The issue was Stella Oduah.

    And this is understandable. It is true that the present government had been rocked by many scandals: the fuel subsidy scandal, pension scandal, etc, Oduahgate is simply in a class of its own. It was one that recommended itself for instant judgment, yet, for over four months, President Jonathan’s courage failed him to show the minister the door. A minister who approved the purchase of two bullet-proof cars at a staggering cost of N255million without authorisation over four months ago ought to have had her case decided since, if not for the fact that the government loves wasting time on irrelevancies.

    Quite interestingly, just as President Jonathan was still thinking about how to handle the scandal, a lesser incident occurred in Ghana in which the deputy minister of communications, Victoria Hammah, was sacked for saying that she would not quit politics until she had made $1million. It was a God-sent example that should have shown President Jonathan the light; but he chose not to see it. The House of Representatives set up a committee to probe the matter and the committee found her guilty, making the full house to recommend to the President a review of Oduah’s appointment. Again, the President ignored the representatives. He then set up his own committee. Months after, mum was the word from him on what the recommendation of the committee was. But it was obvious the report was not what the President expected, otherwise he would have hid under it to exculpate Ms Oduah.

    What is particularly annoying is that while it took this long for President Jonathan to get Ms Oduah out of his cabinet, he did not waste time in throwing away Barth Nnaji, the former Minister of Power, over conflict of interest. This selective approach to the anti-corruption war (is there any war?) does his government no good. Some have contended that Oduah was doing well in the aviation sector; but Nnaji too was making slow but steady progress on power supply until he was given the boot. In Oduah’s case, her so-called good performance in the Ministry of Aviation was questionable. Even as at the time she was said to be doing well, the arrival hall of the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos was a sorry sight whenever it rained, as buckets and other items had to be brought in to collect rain water from the leaking roofs. Those who say the President dilly-dallied for this long on Oduah’s case because he wanted to be thorough, or because he did not want to be stampeded into taking actions would do well to ponder the Oduah saga vis-à-vis other cases that he almost summarily disposed of.

    Without doubt, the Oduah saga made many Nigerians wonder what it was that made President Jonathan adamant on retaining her. I cannot think of anyone in recent Nigerian history that has survived such an onslaught. But that the President eventually bowed to public pressure has convinced me that it is true that when a child gets to a place of fear, it is natural for him to be afraid. But it is not only a child that frets when he gets to the home of fear; elders too do. That was why Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, hitherto thought to be a strong man, became lily-livered and had to pull the brakes at a point when he discovered that his insistence on having a third term by all means was going to backfire. In Nigeria, few people live to regret toying with handover dates. The docility that Nigerians are usually accused of, and which their leaders often exploit, does not extend to toying with transition schedules!

    Anyway, now that President Jonathan has fired Oduah and thus relieved himself of the moral burden, he still has to decide what to do with his petroleum minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke. If the Jonathan government was embroiled in any scandal, the fuel subsidy scandal which became public knowledge barely seven months after the government was sworn in, is the most talked-about. Since then, there have been sundry other allegations of fraud rocking some parastatals under her ministry, particularly the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), whose books are in a mess. No one can say for sure how many billions of dollars could be missing from its record. Yet, the minister under whose nose these unfortunate developments are happening sits pretty in office, years after. We never had it so bad.

    It bears restating that no matter what the Jonathan government does, it won’t go far if it does not tackle corruption. Yet, it does not seem the President has the nerve for this task. His self-inflicted distractions on which he wastes precious time and scarce resources cannot permit him to do any tangible thing. Imagine the man-hours lost to the war to dislodge Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State! Whereas if the President had led well, he would not have to lose sleep over whether his party’s lawmakers and governors are defecting; all he would lay bare for Nigerians is his score card which should be speaking for him now, about three years after his assumption of office.

    This excludes the period he spent to conclude the tenure of his former boss, Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua. If the President’s kernel is cracked for him by some benevolent spirits (because if it is in terms of performance, his government is a monumental disaster) and he manages to get a second term, the story cannot be different. If care is not taken, this is how we would continue to be adrift, and by the time he realises time is no longer on his side, it would have been late and he, like his political godfather, Chief Obasanjo, would start looking for third term. Yet, his government does not seem to have answer to any of the country’s challenges, no matter the number of terms it is given. To worsen matters, it cannot even arrest corruption. So, that is double jeopardy for Nigerians. This is why many Nigerians feel that it is immaterial if President Jonathan sacks his entire cabinet and decides not to work with ministers again, more than enough damage has been done to his government. Now, he would have not just to claim to be fighting corruption but must be seen to be doing so.

    Well, now that Oduah is gone, that is one down. But she is not the only clog in the wheel of the country’s progress. In terms of performance, most of the present ministers are not just there, that is why we are making progress in reverse; although the government boasts a surfeit of attack dogs, sycophants and mischief experts. The truth is, Nigerians had expected a near clean sweep of the cabinet because if a government is as inept as the one we have now, throwing only four ministers into the unemployment market cannot make much difference.