MINISTER of Aviation,Princess Stella
Oduah Thursday told members of the House of
Representatives Committee on Aviation that
the alleged purchase of N255million BMW
armoured cars were not bought for her
personal use. Oduah who astonished stakeholders with this
disclosure at the investigative hearing on the
issue in her 12 page presentation said: “As you all are aware, what necessitated this
public hearing were the events that followed a
false and malicious online publication that I had
compelled the NCAA to purchase for me 2 nos
BMW bullet proof cars at the cost of
$1.6million. ” “Let me state emphatically that from the onset
that the allegation concerning the purchase of
the 2 nos bullet proof cars for me by the NCAA
is false in its entirety. ”
After reading her presentation, Rep Zakari
Lafia Mohammed asked her whether it is a loan or lease that her agency obtained from FBN,
she said it is the same. She said the money
NCAA would pay would still be below the
N240million at the end of the year. On whether she acted within the ambit of the
law in giving approval beyond N100 million , she
said she approved the money and asked the
NCAA to do the needfull. What is the needfull?
The Committee and the minister disagreed on
what do the needfull meant. She had claimed that in her approval she said
kindly do the needfull. Rep Mohammed took on her that saying the
needfull means a go ahead to implement. Responding, Oduah said”no you are wrong on
that the needfull does not mean full approval. ” The NCAA DG Folu Akinkuotu was asked
whether he did the needfull, he said he was not
In-charge at NCAA when the order was given
for the purchase. The permanent secretary of the Ministry,
George Ossi was tackled for misleading the
minister by not appropriately advising her. The committee said the permanent secretary
ought to have asked the NCAA to do the right
thing. The PS claimed that due diligence ought to
have been done by the agency before applying
for the approval. He claimed that he was not available at the
time everything happened . The DG said he would have followed the
procurement Act if he were the one the
directive was given to do the needfull. He said the acting DG Joyce Daniel
Nkemakolam ought to explain why he did not
do that. Nkemakolam said we interpreted the directive
to mean to go through it in line with the
procurement Act. He said they did the due
diligence but they had a mindset that they were
within the budget limit.
But he was asked why he didn’t do due diligence to ensure that it was in tandem with
the procurement law, he said he thought since
the agency had got the approval of the National
Assembly there was no need for such
diligence.
He was asked why he initiated a memo to approve 54 vehicles when what the National
assembly approved was 25 vehicles. He was reminded that what was approved was
N240million and not N643million. NCAA was asked whether the board sought
approval of the president to approve the car
loan. Nkemakolam said he was working on the
mindset that they were still within the
approved limit.
He said that what NCAA discussed with First bank was a lease. He was asked the date the
board of NCAA approved the loan facility.
The DG was asked how many trainings did he
organise for NCAA staff , he said he relied on
experts.
He said that his mindset has always being that they did not exceed the amount approved.
He was asked whether the NCAA board
approved the money.
He said the NCAA has interim board. He said
that he was working on account that it was a
lease not loan. The drama continued with Rep Manwe asking
the former DG of NCAA to disclose who uses
the controversial bullet proof cars since the
Minister bluntly confessed that they were not
bought for her use. “Who is using the vehicles now since the
Minister said they were not purchased for
her?” he asked. To the DG, that was one question that got him
jolted. Minutes passed before he could provide
an answer. And when he finally found his voice,
he said “Anybody can use the vehicles when
they are in the pool. They are operational
vehicles.” But the Lawmaker wouldn’t give up. He
continued with a rider to the question. “Do you mean that a messenger or cleaner in
the agency can use the cars?” He asked.
At this juncture, the hearing room became
deadened in silence with the DG losing his
voice for the second time. And when again, he found it, he answered this
way: “those categories of vehicles are for VIPs
which include the Minister, including you, the
Honorable.” Just then a blast of laughter erupted in the hall
which to some extent provided some comic
relief to everyone in the hall. But Rep Manwe wouldn’t stop. He asked again,
“can we have the log book of the movement of
the car?
With a subdued babbling voice which came in
separate minutes, the DG answered ” I am not a
transport officer. I don’t know whether they are still keeping those log books.” When it now became obvious that the DG was
exhaustive of all the answers he had, the
Lawmakers mandated the agency to bring the
man who received the vehicles at the point of
delivery by Coscharis Motors.
With that, the hearing came to a close. In her closing remark, the chairperson,
Onyejeocha assured Nigerians that justice
would be done to the report of the hearing. “Fact speak for itself. We have tried to listen to
people: Coscharis, the Minister, NCAA, First
Bank , BPP and Customs, and we have their
submissions with us. We will consider what we
have whether it is in line with the extant laws
and financial regulations. We assure everyone and all Nigerian that we
will do justice to this hearing,” Onyejeocha
said. Speaking with some Journalists shortly after
the hearing, the Minister, Oduah expressed
gratitude to the National Assembly for giving
her an opportunity to present her own side of
the story.
Oduah Thursday told members of the House of
Representatives Committee on Aviation that
the alleged purchase of N255million BMW
armoured cars were not bought for her
personal use. Oduah who astonished stakeholders with this
disclosure at the investigative hearing on the
issue in her 12 page presentation said: “As you all are aware, what necessitated this
public hearing were the events that followed a
false and malicious online publication that I had
compelled the NCAA to purchase for me 2 nos
BMW bullet proof cars at the cost of
$1.6million. ” “Let me state emphatically that from the onset
that the allegation concerning the purchase of
the 2 nos bullet proof cars for me by the NCAA
is false in its entirety. ”
After reading her presentation, Rep Zakari
Lafia Mohammed asked her whether it is a loan or lease that her agency obtained from FBN,
she said it is the same. She said the money
NCAA would pay would still be below the
N240million at the end of the year. On whether she acted within the ambit of the
law in giving approval beyond N100 million , she
said she approved the money and asked the
NCAA to do the needfull. What is the needfull?
The Committee and the minister disagreed on
what do the needfull meant. She had claimed that in her approval she said
kindly do the needfull. Rep Mohammed took on her that saying the
needfull means a go ahead to implement. Responding, Oduah said”no you are wrong on
that the needfull does not mean full approval. ” The NCAA DG Folu Akinkuotu was asked
whether he did the needfull, he said he was not
In-charge at NCAA when the order was given
for the purchase. The permanent secretary of the Ministry,
George Ossi was tackled for misleading the
minister by not appropriately advising her. The committee said the permanent secretary
ought to have asked the NCAA to do the right
thing. The PS claimed that due diligence ought to
have been done by the agency before applying
for the approval. He claimed that he was not available at the
time everything happened . The DG said he would have followed the
procurement Act if he were the one the
directive was given to do the needfull. He said the acting DG Joyce Daniel
Nkemakolam ought to explain why he did not
do that. Nkemakolam said we interpreted the directive
to mean to go through it in line with the
procurement Act. He said they did the due
diligence but they had a mindset that they were
within the budget limit.
But he was asked why he didn’t do due diligence to ensure that it was in tandem with
the procurement law, he said he thought since
the agency had got the approval of the National
Assembly there was no need for such
diligence.
He was asked why he initiated a memo to approve 54 vehicles when what the National
assembly approved was 25 vehicles. He was reminded that what was approved was
N240million and not N643million. NCAA was asked whether the board sought
approval of the president to approve the car
loan. Nkemakolam said he was working on the
mindset that they were still within the
approved limit.
He said that what NCAA discussed with First bank was a lease. He was asked the date the
board of NCAA approved the loan facility.
The DG was asked how many trainings did he
organise for NCAA staff , he said he relied on
experts.
He said that his mindset has always being that they did not exceed the amount approved.
He was asked whether the NCAA board
approved the money.
He said the NCAA has interim board. He said
that he was working on account that it was a
lease not loan. The drama continued with Rep Manwe asking
the former DG of NCAA to disclose who uses
the controversial bullet proof cars since the
Minister bluntly confessed that they were not
bought for her use. “Who is using the vehicles now since the
Minister said they were not purchased for
her?” he asked. To the DG, that was one question that got him
jolted. Minutes passed before he could provide
an answer. And when he finally found his voice,
he said “Anybody can use the vehicles when
they are in the pool. They are operational
vehicles.” But the Lawmaker wouldn’t give up. He
continued with a rider to the question. “Do you mean that a messenger or cleaner in
the agency can use the cars?” He asked.
At this juncture, the hearing room became
deadened in silence with the DG losing his
voice for the second time. And when again, he found it, he answered this
way: “those categories of vehicles are for VIPs
which include the Minister, including you, the
Honorable.” Just then a blast of laughter erupted in the hall
which to some extent provided some comic
relief to everyone in the hall. But Rep Manwe wouldn’t stop. He asked again,
“can we have the log book of the movement of
the car?
With a subdued babbling voice which came in
separate minutes, the DG answered ” I am not a
transport officer. I don’t know whether they are still keeping those log books.” When it now became obvious that the DG was
exhaustive of all the answers he had, the
Lawmakers mandated the agency to bring the
man who received the vehicles at the point of
delivery by Coscharis Motors.
With that, the hearing came to a close. In her closing remark, the chairperson,
Onyejeocha assured Nigerians that justice
would be done to the report of the hearing. “Fact speak for itself. We have tried to listen to
people: Coscharis, the Minister, NCAA, First
Bank , BPP and Customs, and we have their
submissions with us. We will consider what we
have whether it is in line with the extant laws
and financial regulations. We assure everyone and all Nigerian that we
will do justice to this hearing,” Onyejeocha
said. Speaking with some Journalists shortly after
the hearing, the Minister, Oduah expressed
gratitude to the National Assembly for giving
her an opportunity to present her own side of
the story.
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