- A civil society group under the aegis of Anti-
Corruption Network, yesterday, gave Minister of
Aviation,Princess Stella Odua a 72-hour ultimatum
to resign her position or face mass protest.
The group said its position was informed by
admission by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority
that it purchased two bullet-proof cars at the cost of
N255 million for the minister.
Addressing the press in Abuja, through its Executive
Secretary, Otunba Dino Malaye, the group also asked
the minister to immediately refund the N255 million
allegedly used by the Nigerian Civil Aviation
Authority to purchase the two Bullet-Proof cars for
her.
Malaye, a former member of the House of
Representatives, equally said his group would seek
redress in a competent court of law besides steet
protest against the minister over what he termed “her
abuse of office.”
He said the bod had already briefed its legal team to
study the case with a view to filing legal action
against the minister by Thursday,next week.
“If it were to be during Obasanjo or Yar’Adua, the
minister would have been fired. We are waiting to see
what the president will do as well as the National
Assembly,”he said.
He added: “We are giving the minister 72 hours to
resign and refund the money spent to the government
confers. Failure to do so, we will mobilise Nigerians
to protest this abuse of office. If by Thursday they
don’t comply with our demands, we will file a suit in
court against them and against the ministry, as well
as the parastatal that bought the cars under
question.”
The former lawmaker insisted: “Our lawyers are
looking at our books to ensure that we file this suit by
Thursday next week. We must take our destiny in our
hands. No one will stop us. Enough is enough. We will
use the case of Oduah as an acid test against all
corrupt practices in this country.”
Malaye maintained that the purchase of the two
bullet proof cars under any disguise was a slap on the
millions of undergraduate students who,he noted,
had been shut out of schools for four months due to
infrastructure decay in the country’s public
institutions.
The action of the minister,according to him, was not
only callous, but inhuman and reprehensible.
He noted that it was either the agency which allegedly
bought car for the minister under declared its
Internally Generated Revenue, or the minister got it
through the kick-back from ongoing renovation of the
nation’s airports.
“No ministry or agency is allowed to spend money not
appropriated. The posers we have for the minister is,
was the money for the purchase of the cars budgeted
for by the National Assembly? Did the Bureau of
Public Enterprise clear the purchase? Or did Stella
Oduah obtain certificate of no objection? These are
many more posers the Honourable Minister should
provide answers to.
“However, in the absence of satisfactory answers,
what can be deduced is that, it is either the NCAA
alleged to have procured the cars hoodwinked the
public by under declaring its Internally Generated
Revenue to raise the money, or the minister
purchased it from the proceeds of the kick-back from
the renovation of the country’s airports,”he added.
Vanguard.

Or else? What will they do?
Looking for cheap popularity.