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Tag: Stella Oduah

  • Presidency, House rift over budget deepens

    Presidency, House rift over budget deepens

    The House of Representatives will begin the scrutiny of the 2014 Appropriation Bill this week. VICTOR OLUWASEGUN and DELE ANOFI examine the aspects of the budget that may deepen the existing conflict between the Presidency and the House.

    The budget controversy is not over yet. The document was submitted to the National Assembly was late. The budget, according to many legislators, has not reflected any serious attempt by the Federal Government to alleviate the suffering of the masses. They also frowned at the delay, stressing that timing is critical to its passage and implementation.

    The N4.6 trillion budget, which was laid before the two chambers by the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on December 19, last year is likely to be a bone of contention between the executive and legislature as the National Assembly resumes sitting this week.

    The House has already complained about the breach of the Fiscal Responsibility Act by the Federal Government. The legislators pointed out that the government failed to submit the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), six months before the budget was laid before the National Assembly. The Spokesman of the House, Zakari Mohammed, said that the breach has implications for the due process.

    This year’s budget is premised on 2.3883 million barrel per day. Many lawmakers are of the opinion that a budget in which the recurrent expenditure is over 72 percent and the capital expenditure is 27 percent may be counter-productive.

    Last year, the differences in the crude oil benchmark between the National Assembly and the Executive on the one hand, and the two chambers on the other, were resolved. While President Goodluck Jonathan proposed $74, the Senate approved $76.5. But, the House raised it to $79, contrary to the position of the joint Committee of the two chambers on the MTEF.

    The Minority Leader, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, who spearheaded the opposition to the $76.5 benchmark, said that, since the MTEF was a rolling plan, it was better to stick to the 2013 benchmark. He was supported by the members of the House.

    A five-member conference Committee on the 2013-2015 Medium Term Expenditure Framework set up by the Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal, met its Senate counterpart and agreed on the $ 77 per barrel as the oil benchmark for the budget. The members of the committee are the Chairman, Finance Committee, Abdulmumin Jibrin, the Chairman Aids, Loans and Debt Management, Adeyinka Ajayi, Daniel Reyenieju, Abdulrahman Terab and Fort Dike.

    Recent analysis of the budget has shown some projected expenditure in the budget, which may generate a fresh row between the Presidency and the House during the budget debate. For instance, in the budget, the Federal Government plans to spend N7 billion on the proposed ‘National Dialogue’. The All Progressives Congress (APC), which is now in majority in the House of Representatives, thinks that the ‘National Dialogue’ is a waste of time.

    The fact that President Goodluck Jonathan did not give a breakdown of how the funds would be utilized may not help his case.

    The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said: “The Capital budget is N1.1 trillion; its about 27 percent of the budget and the recurrent is about 72 percent”. She explained that the budget, which excludes the SURE-P of about N268 billion for the Federal Government, “is the budget that continues Mr. president’s drive to really diversify the economy and create jobs.”

    The public perception is that the House of Representatives is more thorough when it comes to budget scrutiny. There was a rift between the House of Representatives Committee on Finance and the Minister of Finance over “the 50 questions on the economy” last year.

    The Finance Committee had generated the questions after reviewing key aspects of the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and the Fiscal Strategy Paper ( FSP) submitted to the National Assembly by the Presidency. The committee focused on crude Oil production, Crude Oil benchmark price, revenue management and diversification, debt profile and debt service payment, high non- debt recurrent expenditures, capital projects implementation and financing terms amongst others.The committee said that the House would not consider the budget, until the questions are answered. The committee gave the Minister two weeks to answer the questions in writing. Last week, the minster forwarded his reply.The Chairman of the House Committee on Rules and Business has said that the budget consideration was one of the important issues on the agenda of the House this week. Hon. Zakari Mohammed said that the minister’s response to the 50 questions will aid the House during the debate.”The Finance Committee was given a responsibility by the mandate of the House and the Committee must report back to the House what it was asked to do,” he said.

    The Minister of Finance seems to have eventually understood the import of the position of the lawmakers on the 50 questions by responding with a document of over one hundred pages. Areas that may further cause friction between the Presidency and the House are not difficult to envisage. One of these is the alleged fraudulent utilisation of the ‘Service Wide Vote’ in previous budgets, which may cause the House to put this component in the 2014 budget under the microscope.

    The House Committee on Public Accounts headed by Solomon Olamilekan-Adeola has vowed to probe the misappropriation of the Service wide vote. He alleged that trillions of naira were wrongfully applied.

    For this year, the capital expenditure figures captured under the Service Wide Vote of the Federal Ministry of Finance is in excess of N433.5 billion. Although the lawmakers may welcome the N100 billion meant to finance constituency projects for federal legislators, they may likely scrutinise the remaining expenditure on the service wide vote, which include N62.8 billion for special intervention, N8 billion for national job creation scheme; N30 billion for the sinking fund for infrastructural development; N14 billion for Nigeria Electricity Liability Management Company (NELMCO) and N16 billion for the bulk trader.

    Uunder the miscellaneous heading of the service wide vote, N27.5 billion is proposed for the unexplained contingency funding, while N5,149,600,000 will be set aside for adjustments to the recurrent budget. There are other nebulous expenses. They include N5 billion for capital cost adjustments, N21 billion earmarked for election logistics support and the N7 billion proposed for payment of outsourced services for the Federal Government and another N10 billion for a special account not specified.

    With the service wide vote, the Ministry of Finance gets the largest chunk with N1.6 trillion allocation from the budget proposal. This total allocation of N1,653,424,146,940 is 35.6 per cent of the budget for 2014.

    The position of the Public Account Committee was that the Service Wide Vote should not be more than five percent of the budget or it should be eliminated from the budget. The Committee believed it is a drain pipe on the economy because it is often manipulated and subjected to abuse, to the detriment of the economy.

    Also, there is the issue of the non-compliance of MDAs with Section 22 of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, which mandates government-owned corporations listed in the schedule to the Act to pay 80 percent of their operating surplus into the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) of the Federal Government. In a document by the Fiscal Responsibility Commission to the House Committee on Finance, the Commission said many of the MDAs are saying they could not comply with the section because of “Presidential Directives.”

    Consequently, the House Committee on Finance held an investigative hearing to ensure that the internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of listed corporations are captured in the revenue framework viz the 2013 budget. It is also expected that the lawmakers would demand that all of over 800 MDAs of government would be listed in this year’s budget. How the hitherto unlisted MDAs would react to the new development remains to be seen, as the remittance of government share of the IGR was shrouded in secrecy.

    The reduction in the expected income to the nation due to oil theft is one area that will generate controversy. Okonjo-Iweala, while giving reasons for the lower budget estimates for 2014, as against that of 2013, said: “ You can understand that we have some revenue challenges, which we had been very clear on all along because of the losses we suffered in terms of oil revenue. Also, there are losses from non- oil revenue due to the lower customs duties. But the House is not likely to accept this excuse.

    During the inauguration of the Ad-Hoc Committee on Crude Oil Theft on December 11, last year, Tambuwal accused the Presidency of collusion in crude oil theft. He said: “We must realise that, without the protection of highly placed people, without the connivance of officials and experts in the sector, the activity of illegal bunkering would have been curtailed long ago.

    “No country can endure such blatant rape of its resources by a few criminals, who seem to grow bolder by the day. And no self respecting parliament can watch this kind of gross sabotage and not intervene.”

    Mitchell Rivasi The Acting Co- President ACP- EU, Michael Rivasi, said at the 10th regional meeting (West Africa) of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly in Abuja in July last year, that the loss of 400, 000 barrels of oil per day is huge. She said that there must be collusion by government officials and the major oil companies.” We need to get traceability on oil to avoid theft. We need to apply the Kimberly process. Every oil has its DNA, Major criminality is involved. How can you have 400,000 barrels stolen in a day?”

    She suggested that the international community should not “take oil that has no certificate of origin” but further wondered “how will this be effective if the government officials are colluding and are issuing the certificate of origin for stolen oil?

    The House may therefore, not accept the assertion that the oil theft is the major reason for the reduction in the 2014 budget because of its belief that the Federal Government is aiding it. Besides, the legislators are cynical about the claim of a reduced income in the face of the accusation by the Central Bank Governor, Mallam Lamido Sanusi, that the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) failed to remit $49.8bn to the Federation Account from January, 2012 to July 2013. Although the missing $49.8 is said to have been creatively scaled down to $10 billion, the Presidency is seeking the resignation of the CBN Governor over the misinformation. Gbajabiamila said that the House would not assist the President in sacking Sanusi, adding that, when the National Assembly asked Jonathan to sack Oteh, the Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission, he refused.

    Obviously, the missing fund may be another source of contention during the budget consideration.

    Another issue is the flagrant contravention of the appropriation law the Executive. In this case, the issue of the N255 Armoured cars purchased by the Aviation Minister, Ms. Stellah Oduah, readily comes to mind.

    The report by the Nkiruka Onyejeocha-led House Committee on Aviation had urged President Jonathan to review the continued engagement of Stella Oduah as the Minister of Aviation due to the roles she played in the procurement of the vehicles for her use by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA)

    The report, which indicted the Minister of having contravened the Appropriation Act, 2013 and the approved revised thresholds by exceeding the ministerial approval limit of N100 million, was considered and adopted by the House. The Minister approved N643m for the purchase of 54 vehicles.

    The debt sustainability will be another point of focus in the 2014 budget. The debt stock, as at June 2013, stood at US$6.9 billion. The unbridled borrowing has always been a sore point between the Executive and Legislature. Recently, the Adeyinka Ajayi-led House Committee on Aids, Loans and Debt Management, began to probe the debt profile. But the Federal Government has always claimed that it borrowed based on the national need, adding that over 40 percent of the country’s debt stock was incurred by the states.

    A letter from the Secretary to the Government of the Federation ( SGF) Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, in response to a query from the House of Representatives on the non-compliance with the Fiscal responsibility, in terms of overt borrowing, said: “The Federal Government is quite clear and definite with its policies and strategies for borrowing and public debt management. Hence, it recognizes that it would borrow only when it is absolutely necessary and as much as possible on concessionary terms.”

    Anyim argued that the Federal Government is “ guided by the 3 per cent fiscal deficit/GDP ratio prescribed by the FRA, 2007.”

    In spite of this, the House Committee on Finance has lamented the non-existence of a debt exit strategy by the Executive

    The poor implementation of the previous budgets will also likely come up for debate. Speaking of the 2013 budget releases and implementation, the Finance Minister, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo- Iweala told reporters on December 19 last year that: “of the previous budget implementation, I believe we released 64 percent of that budget.”

    But members are likely to question her assertion as the House believes that implementation of 2013 budget did not even reach the 40 percent threshold. Recall that the House had once threatened President Goodluck Jonathan with impeachment over low budget implementation.

    Subsidy funding might be another sore point between the House and the Executive. The Dakuku Peterside-led House Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream) has been mandated to probe the NNPC over the subsidy for Dual Purpose Kerosine (DPK) to ascertain the actual amount spent on kerosine subsidy from 2010 to 2013. Dakuku said that the country had spent over N63bon subsidizing kerosine in the last three year, i.e 2010,n2011 and 2012 at N110b, N320b and N320b respectively for those years.

    But conflicting claims by the Minister of Finance and the NNPC on the source of money through which kerosine is subsidized and the amount involved therein would set the House scanning subsidy components in the 2014 budget thoroughly. Of the N4. 6 trillion proposed as the 2014 budget, subsidy estimates and debt payments would cost over N2 trillion.

    The plan for the Presidency to deposit N1.5bn for an 11th aircraft in the presidential fleet may meet with reservation. Already, the aircrafts of the PAF include two Falcon 7X jets, two Falcon 900 jets, a Gulfstream 550, one Boeing 737 BBJ (Nigerian Air Force 001 or Eagle One), and a Gulfstream IVSP, one Gulfstream V, Cessna Citation 2 aircraft and Hawker Sidney 125-800 jet.

    A lawmaker joking said: “the House may not approve this item unless, of course, the Presidency is able to convince members that it is starting a viable commercial airline operation.”

    The fact that the President and Vice President Namandi Sambo are to spend N2.4 billion for both foreign and local trips may not go down well with the lawmakers, neither would they rush to approve N34.5 million for the purchase of two animals for the Villa Zoo.

    Nigerians also expect the lawmakers to be interested in knowing why over N2 billion was allegedly budgeted by an establishment like the National Mathematical Centre (NMC), Sheda, for the fueling and maintenance of aircraft, sea boats and railway equipment which it does not have.

    The Centre reportedly appropriated “N509,216, N429,056 and N465,522 on the maintenance of aircraft, sea boats and railway equipment” with an extra N293,974 and N421,224 earmarked for same.

    Sequel to the consideration of the 8-clause recommendation in the report by the House Committees on Finance, Appropriation, Legislative Budget and Research, and Aids, Loans and Debt Management, the accepted parameters for 2014-2016 MTEF were: (i) “Crude Oil production of 2, 3883 mbpd, 2,5007mbpd and 2,5497 mbpd for 2014, 2015 and 2016 respectively; (ii) “average exchange rate of N160/USD for the next three years; The third clause, “ adoption of US$76.50 per barrel as the benchmark price of crude oil,” was rejected after a stormy debate.(it was eventually agreed at $77 by both chambers (iv) “Corporate Tax and VAT rate of 30 percent and 5 percent respectively; (v) “ that the Government should strengthen and consolidate its fiscal strategy to narrow the gap between projected and actual revenue for the period 2014-2016 curtailing oil theft and diversifying the economy to increase tax bases so as to increase tax revenue; (vi) “ that the details of the SURE-P projects to be executed be attached as an addendum to the annual budget estimates for approval by the a National Assembly.

    As the House resumes plenary from the Christmas and New year break, and begins consideration in the 2014 budget, it is apparent that it will definitely not be business as usual.

    Though the issue in which the House advised President Goodluck Jonathan to sack the Director General of the Security and Exchange Commission, Arumah Oteh because she is not qualified and the refusal of the do such, and the same treatment the President gave the House Committee on Aviation’s report on the N255 million armoured car scandal involving the Aviation Minister, Stella Oduah, has cast the National Assembly as a toothless bulldog, members say a more assertive NASS is in the offing.

    Speaking on if or not the House would be thorough in considering the 2014 budget, Dakuku Peterside, Chairman House Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream) said:

    “The members of National Assembly are duty bound to defend the interest of Nigerians. They have a responsibility to ensure that funds are judiciously applied for the good of all Nigerians not for the good of individuals. They are under a moral duty, they are under oath to defend the interest of the generality of Nigerians especially the common man on the street,

    “ It is not the elite that voted them into power, the elites in all communities are infinitesimal, not more than 2 percent of Nigerians. And so, 98 percent of the common people put them in power. And I don’t believe that under the leadership of Tambuwal, the House will renege on that duty- it will not. So, I’m confident that the House of Representatives which is the custodian of the budget will do justice to this budget and the final outcome will impress Nigerians.”

    Mohammed was emphatic last week that the House will not be a rubber stamp for the 2014 budget. “We must consider the budget because its a money bill, but we will not be blackmailed or bamboozled to just assume its a case of garbage in, garbage out. Anybody who thinks it is going to be like that is just joking because we are going to ensure a sense of fairness in its consideration to the benefit of Nigerians who are our employers,” he said.

  • Waiting for remodelled airports

    Waiting for remodelled airports

    Last year, Aviation Minister, Princess Stella Oduah launched the airports’ remodelling project designed to upgrade all airports in the country. But after the pomp and celebration that greeted the launch, the questions are: When will the project be completed? What is the cost? KELVIN OSA-OKUNBOR writes.

    The euphoria that greeted the airport remodelling project of the Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah, is gradualling giving way to skepticism. This is because not much has been seen or heard about the projects contrary to the high expectations raised when it was launched amid pomp and celebration.

    At the inception, she stressed the need to give the nation’s airports a face-lift being the first point of contact with the country by foreign visitors.

    Some of the questions raised by stakeholders are: Will the Federal Government complete the remodelling of the 22 airports on schedule? Have the projects met the prescribed international standards? and, is the quality of work done at some of the terminals commensurate with the amount spent?

    These and other questions continue to agitate stakeholders who are watching the progress of the ambitious airport remodelling project embarked upon by the Federal Government.

    While opinions remain divided over the necessity, or otherwise of the project, some stakeholders argue that remodelling the 22 airports is good for the industry.

    Their position is predicated on the many years of neglect, decay and abandonment of the airport infrastructure spanning over 30 years.

    But the concern remains that contract details of the airports remodelling project are shrouded in secrecy. They argue that the refusal by the supervising Ministry to come clean with the total project cost is suspicious.

    The former Assistant Scribe of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), Alhaji Mohammed Tukur, said all the noise about remodelling airports across the country is a ruse, saying that given the level of work done so far, it is difficult to ascertain that the best has been given in terms of quality.

    “The renovation of airports is naturally a good initiative, but the work is not properly done. The poor quality of work done is the reason the whole thing is becoming an issue. The contractors must be called to order. The Senate must take steps to probe the airport projects across the country.

    “Their oversight function should include checking the projects done and the amount of money given to ascertain if the projects are commensurate with the billions of naira released so far. The Senate must also investigate how much money was collected for a particular airport and the level of work done, because so much has been given for the projects and yet one of the remodelled airports is already leaking after rains.”

    President, Aviation Round Table (ART) Capt. Dele Ore, dismised the noise about remodelling as a charade.

    Ore said:”For two years, I will summarise that we have only had confusion. But in the middle of the confusion, some people are clapping and praising the minister.

    “Painting of airport does not bring development to it when you don’t have passengers who are flying or aircraft to fly into them.”

    Also, a Civil Society Network Against Corruption (CSNAC), a coalition of anti- corruption organisations, has filed a Freedom of Information (FOI) request with the Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah, asking her to supply information about the cost of the reconstruction of 22 airports in the country.

    The group said: “We are convinced that enormous amount of money must have been spent on the completed remodeling and ongoing reconstruction.”

    Head of Strategy at Zenith Travels, Mr Olumide Ohunayo, said there is more to fixing the industry than the official window-dressing in the garb of mere remodelling.

    He said: “I quite agree that there is rot in the terminals being transformed, there are others waiting. But, what is really the cost of fixing these airports and who are the contractors?”

    Another aviation stakeholder, Mr. Nick Fadugba, declared that the minister has performed well in infrastructure, refurbishment and modernisation of some airport terminals.

    He said: “You know, this is difficult, there are so many challenges that need to be addressed and I think what she has done is to prioritise them and address those that needed urgent attention. For instance, even if we have good airlines in Nigeria and there is no good airport infrastructure, the airlines will have nowhere to fly into and so, we won’t be able to utilise the aircraft efficiently.”

    A former president of Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), Comrade Solomon Ohioma, has, however, raised concerns over the cost of airport remodelling.

    He said: “The amount of money which has been expended in these projects is what is of major concern to industry players.

    “After the ministry has completed the remodelling of these airports with the huge costs spent on it, it is strange that the same Ministry of Aviation is sending a proposal to the Federal Government that these airports, which have been remodelled, are to be reconstructed.

    “The question is: Why is the government in a hurry after the remodelling to consider rebuilding additional airport terminals?”

    Former Commandant of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos and Chief Executive Officer Centurion Securities, Group Captain John Ojikutu (retd), admitted there were improvements in the revamping of airport infrastructure, but said he was concerned more about the human capital development in the sector.

    He argued that no matter how modern the technology or the quality of new infrastructure, the facilities cannot work on their own, but would remain pieces of equipment “except they are operated by skilled and professionally inclined human beings.”

    The project started last year in some airports nationwide.

    Airports in Lagos, Abuja, Yola, Enugu, Benin, Owerri, Kano , Kaduna , Jos , Sokoto, Ilorin, Port Harcourt, Makurdi, Akure, Ibadan and Maiduguri have been remodelled while brand new terminals have been completed and inaugurated in Lagos, Abuja, Yola, Enugu, Owerri, Kano, terminals in Sokoto, Jos, Ibadan, Ilorin, Kaduna, Akure have reached advanced stages.

    Oduah said the first and second phases of the remodelling would be completed and inaugurated before the second quarter of the year.

    She said so far, the remodelling had brought about the delivery of new terminals at the local wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos.

    The new terminal cost the government about N648 million. She explained that the moderate cost for remodelling the new domestic terminal of the Lagos Airport was achieved due to prudent management of funds.

    Apart from the new terminal at the Lagos Airport, a new wing has been completed at the same airport, which will be opened soon for domestic airlines that will operate from the terminal.

    Under the remodelling train, additional departure and arrival fingers have been completed and opened at the international wing of the Lagos Airport.

    However, the minister did not give details on the cost of completing that segment of the remodelling.

    At the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja, a new general aviation terminal has been constructed and opened for private and charter operators.

    Oduah said all ongoing airports remodelling would be completed this year.

    She said: “What we are doing goes beyond remodelling of the airports. We are actually doing restructuring and reconstructing of the airports. We are just starting to go round the airport. We are doubling the sizes of those terminals and changing all the facilities and utilities within the airport.

    “So, you can’t call that remodelling. It is restructuring and reconstructing. That is what we are doing to ensure that passengers have safe model of transportation and we want to ensure that passengers have value for their money. Most importantly, we want every Nigerian and stakeholders to be proud of our airport environments. It’s a total transformation of the aviation sector.”

    Last year, the House of Representatives Committee Chairman on Anti-Corruption, National Ethics and Values, Hon. Abiodun Adeleke, alleged a breach in contract award processes by the minister in the airport remodelling project.

    Reacting to the House Committee’s remarks, a former director with the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Captain Usman Balarabe, said it was shocking for any Nigerian who has utilised the airport in the past 30 years and had noticed the rot in infrastructure to voice any protest, given the magnitude of the rehabilitation that has so far been undertaken in just over two years.

    The Association of Young Aviators also expressed support for the project. “All that Nigerians want is functional airport with modern facilities and not to biker over due process as it has not yet proven that funds budgeted for the remodelling projects were diverted,” the group said in a statement.

    Oduah assured that the airport terminal in Lagos would be opened before the end of the first quarter of the year.

    She said: “We want to be able to start the usage of all these facilities by the first quarter of next year. What is very key is that passengers’ travelling experiences will be very, very different. It will be the way it should be; it means you have the comfort, you have the safety and you have the security and most importantly as you’ve seen, we’ve increased the capacity which means you have ample space to really do what you are supposed to do, as a passenger.”

    She reiterated that the remodelling would include all the Federal Government’s airports in the country, adding that infrastructural decay would be a thing of the past when the programme is completed. She said the government is embarking on expansion of airport facilities to promote safety and security as well as improve the travel experience of passengers. She listed the airports where the projects have been completed and are awaiting unveiling to include Sokoto, Yola, Owerri, and others.

    She also explained that the expanded facility at the upper part of the airport terminal include airport lounges, transit hotels because of the government’s plan to reposition the Lagos Airport as a regional hub.

    According to the minister, “So far, seven terminals have been completely remodelled and work is in top gear in the remaining 15 terminals.”

    Last month, she toured the Lagos Airport for an on-the-spot assessment.

    Some of the facilities she inspected included the extended Departure and Arrival Halls, new in-bound baggage reclaim carousels, on-going construction work on Fingers as well as transit facilities.

    The extended Departure Halls featured five new state-of-the-art screening machines and two new Body Scanners at each of the wings in addition to 30 new immigration counters. A distinguishing feature of the new screening machines is the ability to detect explosive materials and potential threat items in real time with the lowest rate of false alarm.

    The introduction of 30 new immigration counters as against the previous nine also promises to take the face of facilitation in MMA to another level. Also inspected were the newly installed in-bound baggage to reclaim carousels at each of the Arrival Halls.The high-speed carousels are smoother, easier to maintain and more resistant to luggage jams than their decades-old predecessors.

    This should translate into accelerated baggage retrieval, reduced waiting-time and improved travel experience.

    The highlight of the minister’s visit was the inspection of the on-going construction of two new additional Fingers, as well as the new Transit Facilities. On top of the existing fingers were added another floor where departing passengers would pass through to the bridges in order not to mix with arriving passengers, a cardinal factor in the safety regulation of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

    The Managing Director of FAAN, Mr George Uriesi, has described the development of airport infrastructure as not just an economic necessity but essential to the economy.

    He said: “Achieving these goals will not only help our domestic airlines, but also foreign carriers to develop the confidence required to enhance our image and economic interests.

    “FAAN is about half way through a programme to remodel the country’s 22 federal airports, by 2015, by which time total domestic and international passenger numbers are expected to have grown to 16 million per year compared to 14.3 million in 2012.

    “Remodelling projects at Nigeria’s main airports has been largely completed at the first 11 airports, including Benin City Airport, Kano International Airport, Lagos Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Owerri Airport and Yola Airport.

    Former Minister of Aviation, Babatunde Omotoba, has urged the Federal Government not to succumb to political pressure that would end the ongoing remodelling of airport facilities and the building of new terminals in four major airports in the country.

    He said it took a long time before the government started the rehabilitation of these airports, which had been neglected for over 30 years, expressing the fear that if the programme is stopped due to political pressures, the projects might be abandoned for a long time.

    The ex-minister, who noted that the Lagos airport is too old, said for its facilities to be effectively maintained, they have to be concessioned, so that the FAAN would regulate them and the government would now divert the funds budgeted for aviation to other critical sectors.

    Chief Executive Officer, Westlink Airlines, Captain Ibrahim Mshelia, described the airports upgrade as part of the strategy by the government to reposition the sector as a huge revenue spinner.

    He said this could not have come at a better time, after many years of abandonment.

    He said the pace at which the airports were being fixed was enough testimony of the commitment of the government to position the sector for national development, using air transportation as a catalyst.

     

  • The Stella Oduah conundrum

    The Stella Oduah conundrum

    ON his return from Jerusalem a few weeks ago, President Goodluck Jonathan was asked whether he had received the report of the panel he set up to look into the Stella Oduah scandal in the Aviation ministry, and what he intended to do with it. He struggled to hide his disdain for the question. He had received the report, he said curtly. He said nothing about what he intended to do with it. Like many reports on his table, so to speak, he has either not read them, or he intends to ignore them, or better still, let them mummify on his table.

    Recall that last September the president also received a letter from the Central Bank governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, complaining about haphazard remittances from that most labyrinthine of Nigerian organisations, the NNPC. As he is wont, the president ignored the letter until it blew up in everybody’s face last December. Though Mallam Sanusi is the worse for wear over the letter, thus seeming to confirm President Jonathan’s tactic of ignoring a problem until it resolved itself or, better still, hurt his enemies, the Oduah report seems headed in that infamous direction.

    There is no other interpretation to give the president’s reluctance to tackle the Oduah scandal than to say he looks at ethics from a different prism from the one many world leaders are used to. He is probably angry that the scandal broke out in the first instance, and even more peeved that anyone is putting pressure on him to act. Why then did he bother to attend Mandela’s burial? To honour a man whose methods and principles his government stands in direct opposition to? Well, sooner or later, he will have to act, whether directly or through cabinet reshuffle, as some speculate. The controversy, no matter how angry he gets, will not go away until he buries that stubborn ghost.

  • Cert. scandal: How long before Jonathan sacks Oduah?

    Cert. scandal: How long before Jonathan sacks Oduah?

    It never rains but pours. The storm is certainly not over for the embattled Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah who is now embroiled in a scandal of towering proportion – certificate forgery.

    Stunning revelations by the intrepid online whistleblower, SaharaReporters, revealed that Princess Oduah (‘Princess’ as she has insisted she be addressed), lied about her Masters degree.

    In her citation to the Senate during ministerial screening in 2011, Mrs. Oduah claimed she attended St. Paul’s College, Lawrenceville in Virginia, United States, from 1978-1982, where she bagged her first Degree in Accounting. “On completion of her first degree, she was not lured into taking up paid employment but was determined to have the best education and at the highest level, so she immediately stayed back to study for her Masters Degree which she achieved in 1983,” the citation said.

    Thorough investigations have revealed that St. Paul’s College, Lawrenceville in its 125-year history never ran a graduate (masters) programme. More so, there was no trace of evidence that she earned a Bachelor’s degree from the said university.

    Barely 24 hours after her claim to have acquire a Masters degree from St. Paul’s University in the United States was punctured, further investigation uncovered another false claim by the embattled Minister – fast gaining notoriety for earthshaking scandals – that she lied on oath to the Nigeria Senate, and indeed the Nigerian people, in her audacious claim that another American ‘university’, Pacific Christian University based in Glendale, sometime in 1998, awarded her an honorary doctorate degree in Business Administration.

    Investigation by grapevine online news platforms showed that there is no university in Glendale called Pacific Christian University. It was on the strength of this qualification she was grilled and eventually confirmed by the lawmakers as a minister. This is a scandal and the law should be allowed to take its course.

    Silence, they say, is acquiescence. Unsurprisingly, all her aides and spokesmen of departments and parastatals under her ministry have so far failed to respond to enquiries by journalists to the latest findings indicting the minister. To lend credence to the these scholarly journalistic work, it has been observed that frantic efforts have been made by the minister and her aides to revise her profiles on the internet in a desperate bid to clean up every reference to St. Paul’s College and Pacific Christian University. On Wikipedia for instance, it was observed that her page was edited 19 times between 1.56am and 5.05pm on Tuesday, January 7.

    Meanwhile, the dust is yet to settle on the reckless abuse of office by the Minister’s approval of the purchase of two bulletproof BMW cars at an unimaginable cost of $1.6m (or about N255m) by the National Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), a federal agency under her ministry’s supervision. Coscharis Motors Limited, a dealership from which the two BMW cars were purchased by NCAA, gave N112million to the aviation minister, Ms Oduah as kickbacks while Cosmas Maduka, who owns Coscharis  Motors, pocketed N60 million for each of the two BMW cars.

    But how long will President Jonathan continue to shield her from anti-corruption agencies despite massive criticism trailing her corrupt acts is the big question on everyone’s lips. Many reason that with the latest revelations, she does not deserve to stay one more second as a minister of the federal republic. The longer she remains in Jonathan’s government, the more embarrassment she becomes to the country, making a huge joke of the much touted anti-graft crusade of the present administration.

    President Jonathan should not use any probe panel to cover-up or create a leeway to delay investigations, lull public outrage and ultimately distract the anti-corruption agencies from prosecuting the aviation minister. At this point, Ms Oduah is (seemingly) unshaken; the subterfuge of a panel has been a fortress.

    Those who revel in ignominy have resorted to such crude ways as clannishness to support her reckless abuse of office. Such Nigerians have been blinded by ethnic jingoism that no deed is too heinous as long as the offender is of their ethnic bracket. For such staunch backers, she is being ‘persecuted because she is igbo.”

    It is inconceivable that such tribalists try so hard to validate impunity with ethnicity. It is even more worrisome when so called enlightened Nigerians join in this stupefying vulgarity.  Nigeria will turn the corner when we stop invoking the ‘ethnic card’ to perpetuate criminality and defend corruption.

    The Senate must now do more than ‘take a bow and go’ during subsequent screening exercises. Independent verification of documents must be done by the upper chamber of the National Assembly and not left to security agencies alone that it now seems take orders from powers above.

    The most probable option left for Stella Oduah is to throw in the towel, if for nothing at all, so she can save us all the embarrassment she unduly attracts to the country.

    Our sit tight leaders have already gained a reputation that no amount of disgrace constrains them to lose their tight grip on power. What better way can President Jonathan prove to Nigerians that he is dedicated to taking the fight against corruption in 2014 up a notch, as he promised in his new year message, by asking her to step aside.

    The damage she has done to his administration is incalculable. The fight against corruption requires leaders at all levels with high voltage public morality. People who occupy public offices must be made to feel they have moral obligations to our sensibilities to save us from being the laughing stock of the bemused international community.

    It is time we began to address the issue of academic dishonesty in public service in Nigeria. We need to raise ethical standards and morality that’s the more reason why the Stella Oduah certificate scandal should not be swept under the carpet. If other scandals can be ‘ignored’ by this government, certainly not this.

    If Oduah is left to continue as a minister, then it sends the wrong signal to young Nigerians that you can cheat your way to attain such lofty heights in government. Every effort of the government at curbing exam malpractice and certificate forgery will effectively be brought to its knees if this shameful act as widely expected, is ignored by Mr. President.

    If Jonathan had given her the boot in response to the outrage that greeted her BMW scandal, he would have maybe, saved his administration this embarrassment.

    In this part of the world where politics of mudslinging hold sway, issues of certificate forgery are lethal weapons in the hands of the opposition. It is weighty enough to nail her political coffin. Nigerian political history is replete with examples. But it takes bovine guts to hang on to your job in the face of public opprobrium when you’reprivy to mystifying facts about your certificates. Her bravery has become her undoing.

    One is only left to wonder how many political office holders have forged certificates. It is a shame that in the 21st century with advancement in science and technology, authenticity of documents of public office holders cannot be easily verified by authorities saddled with such responsibilities. It is left to the imagination how many ministries such scandals exist, worse still, we may never know the extent of the rottenness in such places.The integrity of some ministers in Jonathan’s government have long been questioned. This justifies that. Merit and competence have long been thrown in the dust bin.

    Searchlights should now be beamed on more certificates of political office holders.

     

    Theophilus Ilevbare is a public affairs commentator. Engage him on twitter, @tilevbare. He blogs at http://ilevbare.com.

     

  • Minister, experts differ over national carrier

    Minister, experts differ over national carrier

    Some experts in the aviation sector have opposed the modalities set for floating a national carrier by the Federal Government .

    Head of Strategy, Zenith Travel Mr Fidel Olumide Uhunayo and an aviation economist, Mr Taiwo Adenekan, are urging the government to jettison the idea of designating Aero Airlines as the national carrier. According to them, designating a domestic airline out of the existing local carriers, does not other that the government is creating a level playing field for all operators.

    Ohunayo said the era of designating a single operator as national carrier was gone. Adenekan canvassed an open bid for all international routes by airlines that have capacity to deliver.

    Ohunayo said: ”The equations that are being moulded for a caesarean delivery of a national carrier should be reviewed and reconsidered in the interest of the industry and the nation at large. A national carrier ought to have exclusivity and protection.

    “What we need is a national airline policy that will strengthen the industry and our airlines, not a national carrier. The policy should include reduction of taxes, modernisation of air traffic control.

    “The policy by the government should address how to assist airlines through stabilisaton of aviation fuel prices and provision of a market for the flag carriers through a Fly Nigeria Act.

    “This involves a legislation that will make mandatory for government officials to fly only Nigerian airlines on international routes. Doing this will accelerate economic growth.”

    He continued: ”Countries that share our present mentality of setting up a new national carrier include Malawi, Zambia, Congo, Ghana and Gambia. Do we choose to belong to this crowd?

    “Therefore, a country can also be embarrassed by its national carrier; we can ask the Italians, Greek, Mexicans and all the countries in our sub-region.

    “Most of the people calling for a new national carrier today and linking it to the payment of terminal benefits of former Nigeria Airways staff, worked assiduously to frustrate government efforts in the past.

    “The industry all over the world has moved from national to legacy to flag and low cost carriers. “

    Adenekan said: “The government should put all the lucrative international routes on the table for bid. Any airline that gets the bid based on operational competence should be considered as a national carrier. Such airline should be able to compete with other global carriers and not just designating one domestic carrier as a national airline. I am not convinced it may be the best option.”

    Other experts, who spoke on condition of anonymity, have also cautioned against giving undue preference to Aero Airlines.

    Another airline, which analysts say, has the capacity for being designated national carrier is Arik Air. But its managent said it is not perturbed over plans to designate Aero as a national carrier.

    Group Chief Executive Officer of Arik Air, Dr Michael Arumem-Ikhide said: “As an airline, we are not worried. At the end of the day, it is for the benefit of this country. I mean we are a country of 160 million people.The market size here is phenomenonal, market penetration in terms of access to airlines is less than 10 per cent.

    “For the good of our people, we at Arik Air feel good if it means more travellers, if it means more economic development.

    “Let it be for the benefit of the customers.

    “Firstly, the airline must be of higher standard. Secondly, it must be reliable and safe. Let it be run based on international standards and principles and let it be safe.

    “At the end of the day, it is the passengers that would determine the airline they want to fly.”

    Another expert, who pleaded not to be named, said: ”Well, this is an interesting subject that often would elicit varied reactions. Generally speaking, it is not a bad idea, but the issue is very sensitive. We should be moving forward and not moving backwards.

    “There are different voices on this issue among operators. But, I think the concept of a national carrier is archaic. What most countries are doing is the model of flag carriers. The aviation industry has gone far ahead of archaic models.

    “I think Nigeria should look in the direction of what other nations have done to designate domestic airlines as flag carriers. Gone are the days of national carrier; it is out of vogue.

    “Aviation business has gone digital; it is no more analogue, so, why do we need to go back to outdated models.

    But airline operators are consolidating and talking to the government on how to achieve what is the best for the aviation industry.

    “We are convinced that the government has good plans to set up a national carrier. I am sure the promoters of the carrier would have done their home work. So that by the time the whole thing is worked out, the picture will become clear and it is going to be a win-win situation for everybody,”he said.

    But Aviation Minister, Princess Stella Oduah said last week that the national carrier would soon be named.

    Oduah attributed the delay in delivering the national carrier to some hitches, adding that the these were being addressed.

    She, however, did not give details of the problems.

    Oduah said: “We are trying to rectify that challenge. I think we will do it very soon, but the important thing is that we want to give Nigerians a national carrier that we all aspire to have. That will be a true representation of all of us; that can be bought from the market; that will be professionally and efficiently managed.”

  • Guilty or not guilty?

    Guilty or not guilty?

    • President Jonathan’s silence on Oduah’s bullet-proof cars scandal implies presidential complicity

    Just as Nigerians were beginning to think that the Stella Oduah bullet-proof car scandal had, like some other scandals before it, died a natural death, the House of Representatives has resurrected the matter. The House, last Thursday, endorsed the seven recommendations of its committee on aviation, chaired by Mrs. Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, a Peoples Democratic Party legislator from Abia State, which investigated the scandal. The House had asked the committee to look into the matter about two months ago. It is gratifying that it has come this far and has finally asked President Goodluck Jonathan to review the minister’s appointment.

    We agree largely with the House recommendations. As it noted, the minister overreached herself by approving an expenditure of over N643million for the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) for the purchase of 54 vehicles, including two bullet-proof cars at a whopping N255million. Her approval limit is N100million. In line with the House position, the Ministry of Aviation should terminate all the transactions relating to the bullet-proof cars, first because they were not appropriated by the National Assembly, and also because due process was not followed in the procurement.

    The House further recommended administrative sanctions against the former acting Director-General of the NCAA, Nkemakolam Joyce, and the Director of Finance, Mr. S. Ozigi, “in accordance with the Civil Service Rules for deliberately breaching the Appropriation Act, 2013, and other extant laws of the federation.” It asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to move in and ascertain the involvement of people and corporate organisations in possible commission of crime and take appropriate measures to recover whatever the taxpayer might have lost to the unauthorised procurements.

    For a matter that broke about two months ago, it was expected that some progress must have been made on it if the government is truly serious about fighting corruption. Unfortunately, President Goodluck Jonathan threw a spanner in the works at a point it seemed we were making progress by setting up a parallel panel to look into the matter, after the House of Representatives had taken the initiative to set up one. Now that the House has concluded its assignment and made recommendations to the president, he has no excuse not to act on the matter. This is much more so that the committee he set up himself on the matter had since submitted its report.

    We do not know why President Jonathan should be having problems handling this matter. And if he is, he should take a cue from the Ghanaian government which sacked the country’s deputy communications minister, Victoria Hammah, for allegedly saying on audio tape that she would not quit politics until she has made $1million. The minister was sacked in the heat of the Oduah scandal. Hammah had not even committed the crime; but she was removed for merely contemplating it. The Ghanaian government did not go in circles; it did not engage in the rigmarole of setting up any committee. It just handed the minister a sack promptly.

    Like Oduah, Hammah is a pretty woman. Like Oduah, she also reportedly contributed immensely to the incumbent Ghanaian leader’s electoral success. Yet, this did not stop the government from firing her for contemplating a crime.

    President Jonathan must be compelled to say something on the Oduah scandal. Several other corruption-related scandals had been swept under the carpet by this government; this must not be allowed to go the same way. Nigerians must keep it perpetually on the front burner of national discourse, until the government makes its position known on it.

    The minister’s reaction that the House had a ‘hidden agenda’ on the scandal is bunkum. But we do not blame her; she would not have had the temerity to say that if the president had done his job in accordance with his oath of office.

  • Sack Oduah, Allison-Madueke now, lawmaker tells Jonathan

    Sack Oduah, Allison-Madueke now, lawmaker tells Jonathan

    CHAIRMAN, Committee on Information, Strategy, Security and Publicity of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Segun Olulade, has called on President Goodluck Jonathan to relieve the Minister for Petroleum Resources, Dieziani Allison-Madueke and her Ministry of Aviation counterpart, Ms. Stella Oduah, of their duties without further delay.

    The lawmaker was reacting to the letter written by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor to the president in which he alleged that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has failed to remit $49.8billion crude oil proceeds to the Federation Account.

    Olulade described as “stinking” the retaining of both ministers in the federal executive council in spite of allegations of gross inefficiency and corruption levelled against them since the inception of this administration.

    While expressing worry that the president has not done enough to tackle the issue of corruption in the country, Olulade noted, “This is the first time in the history of Nigeria that we are seeing reckless female ministers in government. If Mr. President fails to do the needful, the National Assembly should bring the erring ministers to book.”On the recent letter written by former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo to President Jonathan, Olulade advised Jonathan to take the matter in good faith by addressing critical issues of national importance raised in it.

  • I met decayed aviation sector, says Oduah

    I met decayed aviation sector, says Oduah

    •Senate criticises minister’s report on crashed airline

    Aviation Minister Ms Stella Oduah yesterday painted a sordid account of the aviation sector before she assumed office.

    It was also learnt that the pilot who flew the ill-fated Associated Airline aircraft, which crashed in Lagos, was 64 years old.

    Oduah, who briefed the Senate Committee on Aviation on security and safety in the aviation sector and the cause of Associated Airline’s crash, said the sector was “completely dilapidated, very unmanned and very unprofessionally managed”.

    She said a tour of Nigerian airports revealed that 154 projects were abandoned while the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Ikeja, Lagos, was left to rot for 38 years.

    Deputy Senate Leader Abdul Ningi faulted the report on the airline’s crash, which Oduah presented yesterday.

    Ningi said the committee would need further details to enable it write and present an acceptable report to the Senate.

    Oduah said: “The safety and security civil equipment installations were mostly in obsolete condition. Most of them were unserviceable and in some cases they were unavailable. Also, we met completely decayed infrastructure at all the airports; the dilapidated nature was just horrible. One of them is the fire fighting base, just to give one example.

    “The fire fighting base we have is so sad that fire fighters would not even want to stay there. Not just that bad, the equipment and the facilities they require to work with just doesn’t exist.

    “We went round all the airport facilities. The airport services were so bad. The air conditioners were not working; some air conditioners were older than some of our workers. The toilets were horrible. The elevators (lifts) were in such a dilapidated and unserviceable state. We found out that some of the security screening equipment were 12 years old; others were completely obsolete that the screen could not even show anything.”

    She added: “I met very dangerous working conditions. We also found very poor working conditions for air traffic controllers. In fact, when we went to Port Harcourt and Kano, we found it difficult to climb up because it was too dark and too scary.

    “The lifts were not working and, of the average six floors to climb, this is something they have to do minimum of 10 times a day. It was very unhealthy and not conducive enough to work.

    “We found several abandoned control towers all over the country. Indeed, the number of abandoned projects we inherited was 154. The runways were without lights; they were with potholes. The runways were worse than most rural roads in Nigeria. The worst part was the milling that we have – the place where training is supposed to have been done, that is Zaria.

    “Zaria was in such a horrible condition. You wonder if products of such facilities could have the sense of safety, coming from where they are coming from, to really man the industry the way they should.

    “It was a frightening tour when we visited Zaria. Then, coming to the agencies: we found massive leakage of agency revenue. In fact, almost 70 per cent of their revenues were all collectable, were unidentified.

    “Worst still, there were no policies or procedures because all were manual-driven. In fact, the worst nightmare you will have is if you have to reconcile a particular transaction, you will not find any source document to do so. We were also able to notice huge lopsided concessions of the agencies, particularly the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).”

    The Commissioner of the Accident Investigation and Prevention Bureau (AIPB) Captain Usman Murktar said it would take up to a year for the final report of the crash to be out.

    Usman said the preliminary investigation showed that human factors caused the crash.

    He said: “The probable cause of the Associated Airline crash is still unknown. Each accident is unique. We have released the preliminary report. We found that one of the engines was not producing enough. The target we have is about 12 months.”

    But there was no question to Oduah on the controversial N255 million bulletproof cars.

    The Chairman of the Committee, Hope Uzodinma said the public hearing was meant to unravel the state of safety and security of the nations’s aviation sector and the cause of frequent air mishaps in the last two years.

    The committee said it would take evidence from other aviation agencies beginning from today.

    “They were skewed against government and public interest. Some were done in such a manner where the concessionaire decides on when and how and how much he would credit to the government. They became the senior partner of the transaction and took unilateral decisions.

    “Meanwhile, these are the revenue streams or the agency’s survival.

    “We also found very poor management structures and a weak corporate governance framework within the agencies. It makes it difficult and sometimes for agencies to be accountable.

    “Of the airlines, we found very unhealthy domestic airlines whose business model is to operate without paying the agency revenues.”

     

    “So, they will operate in the morning, sell tickets in the daytime and in the evening the money goes back to the owners without a recourse that some portion of that money belongs to the agencies. It is actually criminal to collect surcharges on behalf of government and to retain the surcharges.”

    The minister said most airlines refused to pay stipulated charges while others deliberately withheld government revenues.

    She said: “I could not hold my tears when I got to the Port Harcourt International Airport.”

    On the causes of the Associated Airline crash, Oduah said: “My promise is that we will get the primary contributory causes of this unfortunate accident so that we can apply the lessons from it for much safer travelling for our passengers.

    “For us in aviation, the fact that we were able to get the preliminary report and be able to open the black box in a laboratory here in Nigeria by our engineers is unprecedented. It is a joyous thing for us that we were able to do so.

    “What happens is that without waiting for the final report, we were able to put preventive measures in place and the preventive measure in regards to shared responsibility where pilots and service providers now know that they do have a responsibility. Until that responsibility is accorded, we will not have a complete safety measure that we are required to have.”

    It was further learnt that the probable cause of the Associated Airline crash had not been determined.

    The Commissioner of the Accident Investigation and Prevention Bureau (AIPB) Captain Usman Murktar said it would take up to a year for the final report of the crash to be out.

    Usman said the preliminary investigation showed that human factors caused the crash.

    He said: “The probable cause of the Associated Airline crash is still unknown. Each accident is unique. We have released the preliminary report. We found that one of the engines was not producing enough. The target we have is about 12 months.”

    But there was no question to Oduah on the controversial N255 million bulletproof cars.

    The Chairman of the Committee, Hope Uzodinma said the public hearing was meant to unravel the state of safety and security of the nations’s aviation sector and the cause of frequent air mishaps in the last two years.

    The committee said it would take evidence from other aviation agencies beginning from today.

  • Chris Ogiemwonyi set to give daughter out in marriage

    Chris Ogiemwonyi set to give daughter out in marriage

    Notwithstanding the groundswell of controversies surrounding the Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah, her estranged husband, Dr. Chris Ogiemwonyi, is glowing with bliss at the moment. Not even the N255m bulletproof car scandal that rocks Stella’s life at the moment would distract Dr. Ogiemwonyi from his fatherly aspirations.

    Not that he is happy about what Stella is going through at the moment. The former NNPC executive and ex-Minister of State for Works is giving out his fourth child, Omosefe Christine, in marriage. Omosefe will be walking down the aisle with Peter Olurotimi, son of a professor of Community Health, Oladapo Hunponu-Wusu.

    The traditional wedding ceremony, a family source said, is billed to hold in Abuja in December while the white wedding will hold in Febuary 2014.

    Ogiemwonyi is very happy at the moment as he seems to have put behind him the intrigues and betrayal that saw him out of the corridors of power three years ago when he was dropped from President Goodluck Jonathan’s cabinet while his estranged wife, Stella, found favour with Mr. President.

  • ‘Project’ll create 10 million jobs’

    ‘Project’ll create 10 million jobs’

    Aviation Minister Ms Stella Oduah has declared that the Nigeria Aerotropolis project will create 10 million jobs, especially in the first two years of its take off.

    Oduah said an estimated N100 billion will be generated annually from the initiative.

    The minister was speaking at the Public Hearing by the House of Representatives Ad hoc Committee probing the FCT Land Swap.

    The Ministry of Aviation is participating in the land swap for the Abuja Aerotropolis project.

    She said the projects, to be sited in Abuja and other major airports, would transform the economy and the living standards of the rural farmers through Perishable Cargo exports.

    The minister said the initiative was private-sector driven, with 20 per cent equity holding through the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).

    Ms Oduah said the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) had endorsed the Abuja Aerotropolis for which documentation was being finalised for the land acquisition.