An anti-corruption watchdog led by a former legislator, Dino Melaye, has given Nigeria's Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah 72 hours to resign from office.

The ultimatum follows revelations by SaharaReporters that she arm-twisted a cash-strapped agency in the aviation ministry to purchase two armored BMW 760 Li cars at highly inflated prices.

Mr. Melaye told SaharaReporters that his group plans to embark on a series of actions aimed at forcing President Goodluck Jonathan to fire Mrs. Oduah as well as return the $1.6 million to the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, which was forced to buy the cars.

A spokesperson for Mrs. Oduah today owned up to the ownership of the two cars after SaharaReporters provided documentation of the transaction on its website on Tuesday.

Mr. Melaye said the purchase of the vehicles was done in violation of various rules and laws guiding such high-level procurement by government officials, particularly the monetiazation policy of the federal government from which the minister was not exempt.

Among the plans, he said he will be in court next Tuesday to force the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to prosecute the Minister. In addition, a coalition of anti-corruption activists will picket the Aviation Ministry next week in an effort to force President Jonathan to remove her from office.

With reference to the cost of the vehicles, Mr. Melaye described them as “unconscionable,” recalling that the Speaker of the House of Representatives also purchased two Armored Mercedes Benz S-600 B7 grade armored cars a year ago for less than $800, 000.

He also disclosed that he had requested for quotations from Germany that show that the vehicles actually cost less than $200,000 each. Even then, he stressed, the Minister has no right to purchase the vehicles for her personal use.

He reminded President Jonathan that former President Olusegun Obasanjo or his immediate boss, late Umaru Yar'adua would have fired Mrs. Oduah since the scandal broke.

Meanwhile, aviation officials have disputed the version of Mrs. Oduah story that she was using the vehicle to protect herself against powerful enemies opposed to her in the ministry. A source told SaharaReporters that Mrs. Oduah has not used the vehicles for official purposes since they were taken to her home in Victoria Garden City (VGC) in Lagos. The source stated that there are several exotic cars purchased for the Minister in VGC if the EFCC or the police care to raid the place. The source also claimed that Mr. Oduah is building a hotel in VGC worth N3.5 billion from proceeds of kickbacks received from the airport remodeling projects scattered across the country.

The source further stated that Mr. Cosmas Maduka of Coscharis Group Limited, the supplier of the used 2008 model armored cars, might have given the minister and Mr. J. D. Nkemakolam, the former acting Director-General of Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) who carried out the purchase up to $700,00 as kickback from the car purchase.

Mrs. Oduah is the former co-chair of Mr. Jonathan’s main presidential campaign outfit, Neighbor-2-Neighbor. She is not expected to face any retribution from the president who has recently declared corruption in his government to be “exaggerated.”

http://saharareporters.com/news-page/nigeria’s-minister-aviation-bmw-armored-car-scandal-anti-corruption-network-gives-stella-o

Source: http://saharareporters.com/news-page/nigeria’s-minister-aviation-bmw-armored-car-scandal-anti-corruption-network-gives-stella-o

I trust this man, when Oil Subsidy was removed in early 2012, he and his cahoot Hon. Pat Obahiagbon rose to challange it.

I believe with the help of his political supporters, he may like be victorious.

Everybody is against Oduah, what if she honourably resigns her appointment?

Hot air. All noise. No action.
Na settlement go end am.

LOL


This is getting more serious, but since it's coming from Mr Dino,it's stale. Trust me,she'll be there till Oga Jona leaves office. No be Naija we dey? The issue will soon be swept under the carpet in no time. May the good Lord deliver us from all this looters called Leaders.



Frontpage things Mods

Taking heed from Master Jesus teachings Dino Melaye whose garage is filled with exotic European machines also gotten from corrupt practices is not "Sinless " enough to cast this first stone against Stella Oduah .. We need someone with clean hands to be the stone thrower.

Whether u force her to resign or not let nothing happen to the new International air port at Enugu.

This is Nigeria, if you start to fight corruption, you will be amazed at how deep rooted it is. The number of people that will be affected. Issue will arise about how the govt sponsored kim kadashan abi wetin them dey call her to come and carry thousands of dollars from nigeria within few minutes, when nigerians never chop.

Then you talk about farouk and otedola case. Talk about the lekki concession, talk about the commissioner for works that gave ram worth. $750k.

Talk about bamanga tukurs son and subsidy. Everybody in govt is connected in corruption somehow, so you will be shocked that when the secrets are open that even those fighting corruption are corrupt.

Ask farouk for more info.

Sincerely, we all knw this Aviation Ministry is one of the Sectors the present Govt is really heading Positives!! Madam Oduah has done a lot nd I appreciate that! But asking for her sack or asking her to resign due to this present case is smtin I am still pondering on! How I wish she never fell into this....Well, hoping the right things are done accordingly!

Usual rattling of an empty vessel . . . .

mekaboy: This is Nigeria, if you start to fight corruption, you will be amazed at how deep rooted it is. The number of people that will be affected. Issue will arise about how the govt sponsored kim kadashan abi wetin them dey call her to come and carry thousands of dollars from nigeria within few minutes, when nigerians never chop.

Then you talk about farouk and otedola case. Talk about the lekki concession, talk about the commissioner for works that gave ram worth. $750k.

Talk about bamanga tukurs son and subsidy. Everybody in govt is connected in corruption somehow, so you will be shocked that when the secrets are open that even those fighting corruption are corrupt.

Ask farouk for more info.

^^^Not forgetting IBB and the missing gulf war billions ; OBJ and the Halliburton scandal.......and moving on to other crimes (of the bloody variety): the Bornu Senator (forgotten his name) who's in cahoots with the bokites, yet still forming saintliness, and helping to make laws for us; the peodophile Senator that can't seem to keep his filthy paws off prepubescent 13 year old kids; the unaddressed war crimes committed by Murtala in Asaba during the Biafran war; and more recently, the ones committed by OBJ in Odi and Zaki-Ibiam!

If you want to start cataloguing the criminals left unpunished in this country, you'd need at least a year and an army of helpers! And to make matters worse, some of these criminals are those we look up to as elder statesmen!

Jokers and haters at work. If they are serious they know where to start!
First Festus Odimegwu, now Stella Oduah. Let's see if they can pull this one off. If they succeed again, I would know for sure that not only is Jonathan lost, he also cannot be trusted.
This woman's "real crime" is known to us. Let no one think that these marauding haters and bloodsuckers ever hoodwinked anyone.

No be naija we dey

The more you look, the less you see. Welcome to Nigeria; the land of make-believe and abracadabra.
Oduah with all her money could not see her appointment as a call to service? She is all about luxuriating and greasing her face like a two-year old, experimenting with make-up.
I expect the Presidency to downplay this in their usual "them against us " mentality.
I give up!

idupaul: Taking heed from Master Jesus teachings Dino Melaye whose garage is filled with exotic European machines also gotten from corrupt practices is not "Sinless " enough to cast this first stone against Stella Oduah .. We need someone with clean hands to be the stone thrower.

Forget it. You people are only looking for a crude way out. When Buhari came with clean hand, did you people even allowe him to pick stone? Nigeria is a secular society and stop twisting your religious verses to divert attention. This man is on course.

That was really a good one!

Any Igboman criticising dis woman must be stupid. Where were all this criticism wen Femi Fani Kayode was the aviation minister? Was he not more corrupt? Whats about the N17billion fraud at the aviation ministry under FFK, whats the EFCC's verdict? Lets stop fooling ourselves, a section of the country wants her out, just as they want GEJ out at all cost cos they are not serving their evil interest.

A section of the country recently said the opening of intl flight at the east will kill local air travel biz, can u all understand their schemes and thinkin? Knowing fully well that Igbos do intl travel a lot and the impact it might have on their region if Igbos travel frm their region without having to take a local flight to Lagos before taking their flight abroad. They want no good for Igbos and r ready to destroy wateva good that seems to be comin to the region.

Let rally behind the minister, we all knw 95% nigeria politicians are corrupt and Nigeria is a jungle state where the 'advantaged' wanna continue holding dowm the 'disadvantaged'.

4 where? 4 dis naija? U want psn to resign? I laff in urhobo. Not happening. They know how to handle us. After we make all these noise without any action as usual dis too will be swept under d carpet. Nl b naija? I will b really stunned if dis woman looses her job for this Wallahi. Remember Oteh? Where is she?

true2god: Any Igboman criticising dis woman must be stupid. Where were all this criticism wen Femi Fani Kayode was the aviation minister? Was he not more corrupt? Whats about the N17billion fraud at the aviation ministry under FFK, whats the EFCC's verdict? Lets stop fooling ourselves, a section of the country wants her out, just as they want GEJ out at all cost cos they are not serving their evil interest.

A section of the country recently said the opening of intl flight at the east will kill local air travel biz, can u all understand their schemes and thinkin? Knowing fully well that Igbos do intl travel a lot and the impact it might have on their region if Igbos travel frm their region without having to take a local flight to Lagos before taking their flight abroad. They want no good for Igbos and r ready to destroy wateva good that seems to be comin to the region.

Let rally behind the minister, we all knw 95% nigeria politicians are corrupt and Nigeria is a jungle state where the 'advantaged' wanna continue holding dowm the 'disadvantaged'.

The idea that because other politicians at the national level are rogues, therefore, it is okay for Igbo politicians to be thieves is just beyond sensible comprehension. What you find reprehensible in others, you must also find reprehensive in your own. How do we then fight this mess when certain people embark on ethnic-mobilized solidarity and support for the corrupt? It is people like you who encourage the culture of thievery and hubris. Proponent of 'he or she can continue to run Nigeria aground in the sandbanks of corruption and mediocrity, as long as he/she is our own, we must rally support for them'.

take dat: The idea that because other politicians at the national level are rogues, therefore, it is okay for Igbo politicians to be thieves is just beyond sensible comprehension. What you find reprehensible in others, you must also find reprehensive in your own. How do we then fight this mess when certain people embark on ethnic-mobilized solidarity and support for the corrupt? It is people like you who encourage the culture of thievery and hubris. Proponent of 'he or she can continue to run Nigeria aground in the sandbanks of corruption and mediocrity, as long as he/she is our own, we must rally support for them'.

Dnt sound like a proverbial pharisee who cannot remove the dirt in his eyes but try to remove the dirt in another man's eye. You guys should probe Dimeji Bankole, Tinubu, FFK etc before pointing accusing finger on stella, unless u tell me that ur pple are saints.


The aviation sector is better now than it used to be before and some pple are fighting bitterly for the closure of Enugu intl airport and u surely knw the pple im talking about.

true2god: Any Igboman criticising dis woman must be stupid. Where were all this criticism wen Femi Fani Kayode was the aviation minister? Was he not more corrupt? Whats about the N17billion fraud at the aviation ministry under FFK, whats the EFCC's verdict? Lets stop fooling ourselves, a section of the country wants her out, just as they want GEJ out at all cost cos they are not serving their evil interest.

A section of the country recently said the opening of intl flight at the east will kill local air travel biz, can u all understand their schemes and thinkin? Knowing fully well that Igbos do intl travel a lot and the impact it might have on their region if Igbos travel frm their region without having to take a local flight to Lagos before taking their flight abroad. They want no good for Igbos and r ready to destroy wateva good that seems to be comin to the region.

Let rally behind the minister, we all knw 95% nigeria politicians are corrupt and Nigeria is a jungle state where the 'advantaged' wanna continue holding dowm the 'disadvantaged'.

This reasoning is warped and it's such that will kill Nigeria. Such reasoning will also kill off any part/region that comes out of Nigeria.

Just listen to yourself. Indeed, corruption has been enthroned in this country.

How come you're tribalizing the issues rather than address the main issues?

Na wa o!

idupaul: Taking heed from Master Jesus teachings Dino Melaye whose garage is filled with exotic European machines also gotten from corrupt practices is not "Sinless " enough to cast this first stone against Stella Oduah .. We need someone with clean hands to be the stone thrower.

Don't bring the abused and twisted 'casting of first stone' here as it does not make any practical sense here at all.

So, according to you, we should ignore all these weighty allegations?

So, if a badly behaved person tips you off that someone is stealing your money, you would ignore him? Eh?

With your type of reasoning, I think Nigerians deserve the kind of poverty and underdevelopment around them.

true2god: Any Igboman criticising dis woman must be stupid. Where were all this criticism wen Femi Fani Kayode was the aviation minister? Was he not more corrupt? Whats about the N17billion fraud at the aviation ministry under FFK, whats the EFCC's verdict? Lets stop fooling ourselves, a section of the country wants her out, just as they want GEJ out at all cost cos they are not serving their evil interest.

A section of the country recently said the opening of intl flight at the east will kill local air travel biz, can u all understand their schemes and thinkin? Knowing fully well that Igbos do intl travel a lot and the impact it might have on their region if Igbos travel frm their region without having to take a local flight to Lagos before taking their flight abroad. They want no good for Igbos and r ready to destroy wateva good that seems to be comin to the region.

Let rally behind the minister, we all knw 95% nigeria politicians are corrupt and Nigeria is a jungle state where the 'advantaged' wanna continue holding dowm the 'disadvantaged'.

Another illiterate, please ignore!

DINO that Criminal, Mtscheew....then Ibori should have ask them to shoot her, nayway she dey kampe

How could the purchase of these vehicles possibly have been in consonance with "due process", as described by Joyce Nkemakolam (Acting Director General at time)? Looking back at one of the documents published by SR, dated 13th August 2013, it is clear to me that the current Director General either delegated powers to Mr Nkemakolam or was completely sidelined with respect to an on-going transaction.

Why was purchase order approved right at the point when a new DG was about to assume the mantle of leadership?

Outrage over Aviation Ministry’s N255m bulletproof cars



Some eminent Nigerians took turns on Thursday to express shock, anger and outrage over the news that the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) recently bought two bulletproof cars for Aviation Minister, Stella Oduah, at a whopping N255 million.

The purchase of the cars was confirmed by officials of the Ministry of Aviation who claimed the vehicles were meant to protect the minister from some threats.

An outraged Itse Sagay, constitutional lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), described the minister’s action as simply wicked and callous.

He said it has shown to the world why Nigeria still remains underdeveloped despite 53 years as an independent nation.

“The minister’s action is not only outrageous but it is also symptomatic of what is killing this country.

“It is symptomatic of the recklessness of politicians and public servants who think that public fund and the resources of Nigerians are to be spent totally and completely for their fancy without restraint.

“There are millions of Nigerians who are living below poverty level.

“It is reckless, it is irresponsible, it is criminal for anybody to spend N255 million on two cars. ”

[b]Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Ikeja branch, Monday Onyekachi Ubani, demanded that President Goodluck Jonathan should sack the minister notwithstanding the fact that her appointment was in the first instance a reward for her role in the President’s election in 2011.

He added that the minister’s action has once again brought to the fore the need for a national conference where Nigerians will determine how they are governed.

“You see what we are saying about having a conference which will determine how we govern this country for the betterment of everyone. Do you see that people who you have given the treasury to manage are the same people looting the treasury.

“It is only in Nigeria that somebody will give you something to keep for him, and when he comes back, you have stolen the thing that is kept in your care.

“How can somebody take control of two cars for a whopping N255 million in a country where ASUU has been on strike for three months and the government said there is no money to pay them?
[/b]
“How can you do that in a country where people can barely afford three square meals per day?

“I believe the minister should be sacked; but I doubt if Mr. President will do that because her appointment was as a result of her role as the Coordinator for Neighbour to Neighbour in the 2011 elections,” the lawyer said.

National Publicity Secretary of the pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin, who described the action of the minister as insensitive, said she should be made to surrender the cars and the money returned into government’s coffers.

“To buy two cars for N255 million for one person in this kind of economy is quite insensitive, a misplaced priority and not a prudent way to spend money.

“I think there is no sense of decorum in such an outlandish expenditure. The minister should be made to return the cars and the money paid back into the government’s coffers,” he said.

To Lagos based lawyer, Bamidele Aturu, Nigerians should not just lament when people in position of authority take them for a ride, they should also act to put an end to it.

According to him, the claim by the ministry that the cars were purchased for the security of the minister does not hold water.

“They believe Nigerians cannot do anything. They have the belief that they can spend our money recklessly and nothing will happen.

“It is a culture of impunity and it is indefensible. Which security is she talking about?

“If she can spend such an amount on her security alone, how much then are they spending on the security of the President?

“So, is her security more important than that of you and I and over 150 million Nigerians? I think we should not allow these things to go on like this.

“We must find a way of checking it and putting an end to it. We have a lot of people in this country who don’t even know where the next meal will come from.

“It is very sad. We should not just lament. We have to do something about this,” Aturu said.

Coordinator of Coalition against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL), Debo Adeniran, described the action of the minister as a national embarrassment.

However, the Igbo intellectual organisation, Aka Ikenga, rose in stout defence of the minister, saying she is being victimised and persecuted for no just cause.

Speaking in a chat with Daily Independent, its president, Goddy Uwazurike, said Nigerians should stop the campaign of calumny against the minister, adding that there is nothing wrong with the purchase of the vehicles since she (Oduah) will not leave with them after completing her job as minister.

“It is an idiot who believes what is written by Sahara Reporters. People should stop peddling falsehood. Don’t give a dog a bad name in order to hang that dog.

“The first question we need to ask is ‘were the cars budgeted for?’ If it is part of the current budget that is Mr. President’s budget, there is nothing wrong in that.

“Also, why are people giving the impression that the cars were the personal properties of the minister?

“Every ministry has official cars scattered in almost all the airports in this country. But when the minister leaves or resigns, he or she leaves all those cars behind.

“There is a serious campaign in some quarters to get Mr. President to sack the minister, why? Is it the minister’s fault that a pilot decides to take a plane that is being repaired and fly it in the air?

“Let us stop all these campaigns of calumny against the minister,” Uwazurike said.

National President of the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), Benjamin Okewu, said the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) should come in immediately to investigate the matter and get to the root of it.

He said some of the questions that should be asked in the course of probing into the matter are: were the cars budgeted for, was it approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC), who approved it and should bullet-proof cars be bought for the minister at the detriment of training agencies’ staff?

The ATSSSAN boss said EFCC should also find out if part of the duties of the NCAA is to use its scarce resources to buy bulletproof cars for the Minister of Aviation, while staff training and re-training suffer.

But General Secretary of ATSSSAN, Olayinka Abioye, who said he was speaking in his private capacity, simply said Oduah as a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has the right to buy whatever property she wants.

But, an aviation expert, Olumide Ohunayo, argued that calling for the sack of the minister is hasty and that the allegation would require a thorough investigation.

An aircraft maintenance engineer, Kyari Sheri, said he would not want to believe the minister took $1.6 million to purchase two bullet proof cars.

However, Joyce Nkemakolam of the NCAA told Daily Independent on telephone that the purchase of the two controversial cars went through due process.

“I can’t sit down in the office and approve such an amount. It is beyond my approval limit. It went through other higher authorities,” he said.

The Federal Government had on March 12 appointed Nkemakolam as the acting Director General of NCAA following removal of the former Director General, Harold Demuren, by the government.

As the Director of Aerodrome Services, Nkemakonam was the most senior officer of the agency when Demuren was sacked.

When asked the purpose of the cars, he said they are for security, adding, “With the level of insecurity now in Nigeria, we need to be proactive by getting sophisticated security vehicles. This is a delicate period in Nigeria”.

But in his case, Director General of NCAA, Fola Akinkuotu, said he had no comments on the purchase of the cars.

Source

Resign ? Can a political officer resign in Nigeria ? Yet ASUU strike still continues, Corruption 2019, thanks to fresh air

ifyalways: Hot air. All noise. No action.
Na settlement go end am.

'All noise. No action'? Do you think going to court to force the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission to prosecute the
Minister is not an action? So you expect them to bare arms before you can regard their actions? You're just being pathetic. Stella would never give you a ride in her BMW 'cos you're from her side. Stop supporting corrupt practices. It begins with you.

I recall a similar episode with the petroleum minister, what transpired then? what of the other countless public outcry against frivolous spending and extravagant lifestyle of public office holders and their families? what has become of them?

Please when they are serious to prosecute and go all out to ensure removal of such silliness in our government they should inform the people if not they should zip it. They have been known to be toothless bulldog that just bark and no bite.

take dat: The idea that because other politicians at the national level are rogues, therefore, it is okay for Igbo politicians to be thieves is just beyond sensible comprehension. What you find reprehensible in others, you must also find reprehensive in your own. How do we then fight this mess when certain people embark on ethnic-mobilized solidarity and support for the corrupt? It is people like you who encourage the culture of thievery and hubris. Proponent of 'he or she can continue to run Nigeria aground in the sandbanks of corruption and mediocrity, as long as he/she is our own, we must rally support for them'.

This attitude is ridiculous to say the least, I believe majority of Igbo people are honest and hard working but unfortunately, the dregs among them are making the loudest noise thereby portraying the whole tribe in bad light.

MightyThor: I recall a similar episode with the petroleum minister, what transpired then? what of the other countless public outcry against frivolous spending and extravagant lifestyle of public office holders and their families? what has become of them?

Please when they are serious to prosecute and go all out to ensure removal of such silliness in our government they should inform the people if not they should zip it. They have been known to be toothless bulldog that just bark and no bite.

Prosecution is not in the hands of masses but the judiciary and by larger extent the state( government) . I understand your frustration and I share in it too. What happens to corrupt cases brought to court shows the government is not ready to fight corruption.