18th October, 2013
Simon Ateba/Aviation correspondent
Nigeria’s embattled minister of aviation, Princess Stella Adaeze Oduah, has set up a panel to investigate how information about the N255 million two bullet-proof cars, purchased for her by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, was leaked to the media, sources said on Friday.
Sources in the aviation ministry said the newly set up panel is headed by the Director of Consumer Protection at the NCAA, Adamu Abdullahi.
The investigation will revolve around the NCAA and already, staff in the finance and account units have been informed, sources said.
SaharaReporters, an online medium, had on 15 October published documents that revealed that NCAA had in August this year bought two bullet-proof BMW cars at the whopping sum of N255 million for Stella Oduah.
Beyond revelations that the minister did not have the power to request such gifts from the cash-strapped NCAA, especially at the time the agency was said to have cut back on training of vital staff, the cars were highly overpriced.
The minister spokesperson later justified the purchase by claiming that Oduah’s life was in danger and she needed not one but two cars as she embarked on a so-called transformation agenda of Nigeria’s troubled aviation sector.
Since the publication on Tuesday, the media have been awash with outrage and condemnation and many in the aviation sector and civil society movement have called on Oduah to resign on account of corruption and mismanagement.
Analysts say it may be an exercise in futility because such information could have been leaked from First Bank of Nigeria, NCAA or Coscharis Motors, the trio involved in the transaction.
Besides, analysts say Oduah should take the bold step and do the right thing by resigning since the story is true.
The minister has been battling a number of challenges before the latest scandal which threatens to tear her reputation apart.
Twelve days before the leak, an Associated Airline plane loaded with 20 people and the remains of Olusegun Agagu, former governor of Nigeria’s southwestern state of Ondo, crashed in Lagos, killing 15 people.
The small plane came down only seconds after take-off.
The next day, on 4 October, another plane, this time belonging to Kabo Air and loaded with 512 pilgrims and crew, crash-landed in the northern city of Sokoto, damaging some airport equipment and coming to a stop with burst tyres.
The following day, Dana Air’s licence was suspended after an air return due to engine failure. Arik Air also had an air return and hovered in the air for about 30 minutes.
And only last Sunday, an IRS Airline plane loaded with 89 passengers had an emergency landing in Nigeria’s northern city of Kaduna. The passengers disembarked from the runway even as firefighters and crew surrounded the airport.
The minister was still under heavy criticisms and lawmakers had already scheduled a public hearing with her to explain why close to 200 people have died in plane crashed since she became minister of aviation on 2 July 2011, when the latest scandal blew open.