gregg2: 1) First, it was Allison Maduekwe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . they failed

2) Then, the Chief of Army Staff, Ihejirika . . . . . . . . they failed woefully too

3) Again, they tried the almighty Okonjo-Iweala . . . . of course, they are not her class and she brushed them aside

4) Now it is the turn of the best performing Minister of Aviation in the last two decades . . . . . . . . . . . . she will shame all the enemies of progress


I do not condone corruption but the way and manner Sahara Reporters made a scape goat of Stella Oduah without showing much proof of her direct involvement on its own was a suspect. Immediately, other APC propagandist media like PUNCH, Nation etc picked it up and made it headline story for close to seven days without much investigation except the rumours and gossips they gather from social media.

bigass: are you guys crazy or what? every thief has an explanation. so because she wrote this she should be pardoned. he he he. so if she buys a laptop for 2 billion Naira it becomes non-issue as long as it followed due process and appropriated for? what about the fraud of contract splitting and inflation?
she should rot in gaol otherwise known as jail!!!! onyiara

ogb5: The probe of the procurement should still be done. Not as a witch hunt to catch her but to learn from it.

Since only one vendor responded to the tender request for Security vehicles, they should have re-advertised the tender request to allow for better response. the tender procedure need to changed so that in cases of single tenders then the process should be expanded.

If after expanding the tender process and they still get single response then they can invoke the single tender process that call for greater scrutiny and bargaining to get the best deal.

talktimi: If due process was followed (as it obviously was) and you still dont like the outcome, kindly KICK the BUCKET grin and to hell with your selective criticisms /anti corruption crusades.

Stella clearly took steps to protect her life and judging from the crazed cabal, i say damn right so.

Wat exactly is the crime? Perhaps this men are looking for Jesus to die for their sins?

Well Stella is not Jesus and can't die for dirty corrupt sinners like Melaye.

Christ has already died and it is either Melaye and his likes accept Jesus as their lord and personal saviour or go to hell. Stella cannot help u in dat regard.

Aunty Stella will not take a fall for u, She will not die for ur sin no matter how dirty and corrupt u are.

agwo2july: She wrote a technical response meaning, their are documents, I think dis woman will be vindicated atlast. Coolu temper people and stop playing to d gallary

The Honorable Minister of Aviation has acquitted her self very well with this lucid and straight-to-the-point explanation. I hope all those who called for her head without listening to her side of the story cover their faces in shame. Now this woman has important business of Airport remodeling and reform to carry out. These distractions should cease forthwith.Stella answered all the question.

1. do we need armoured vehicles in all the airports in Nigeria. If they are operational vehicles
Terrorist groups such as Boko Haram, and dangerous cabal such as the Aviation ones make it necessary that foreign officials and other dignitaries are safely conveyed. Armoured (bullet proof/bomb proof) vehicle is certainly a good start.

2. 255 Mill for 2 cars
Do you manufacture or sell cheaper specs? Did you bid, and was not considered?

awodman:
Contrary to your claim NCAA is one of the few government agencies that are permitted by law to spend their IGR and remit 80% of the operating surplus to the federation coffers without seeking any approval from the National assembly

MAYOWAAK: I must state at this point that despite what has happened, we should not diminish the achievements of Oduah in the aviation sector. And whatever the misgivings about her recent statement following the Associated Airlines plane crash, I believe it was more a case of mis-speak than a display of insensitivity. But I find it difficult to rationalise the purchase by the NCAA of such expensive toys for her official pleasure. I am also worried about the process (or lack of one) that led to the acquisition of these cars; the implications of having an agency over which the minister has oversight buy them; and the little details of whether indeed the vehicles cost as much as the stupendous amount of public money being claimed by the NCAA authorities. Coscharis should also be worried about why almost every public procurement scandal involving vehicles is about the company---from COJA to First Lady Summit and now aviation!


However, the most critical issue in this unfortunate saga is its implication for the credibility of this administration. For instance, in the face of the ASUU strike that has grounded public universities for four months now, how would the federal government convince the lecturers that some of the demands they are making are unrealistic (given the nation’s limited resources and competing demands) when a quarter of a billion Naira was spent to buy two cars for just one minister? How do you justify such profligacy at a time several Nigerian university graduates are unemployed and majority of our people wallow in abject poverty? And then the most pertinent question: what exactly is the meaning of public service when so much resources could be cynically committed to the maintenance of just one official whose personal interest (even if in the guise of security) is deemed to be more important than that of the people on whose behalf she is in office?


Let us be clear about something: this sort of scandal is not limited to the Ministry of Aviation or for that matter, the federal government. It can be located at virtually all levels of government in our country. In fact, majority of the governors spend huge sums of money (sometimes running into billions of Naira) buying state-of-the art automobiles, chartering airplanes and feeding all manner of indulgences and personal vanities at public expenses. So what has actually caused problem for Oduah is not the act itself (as reprehensible as it is) but rather the contempt with which her officials responded to the issue. Yet public office holders who believe in their own invincibility are poor students of history. Malcom Gladwell, famous journalist and author, (remember “The Tipping Point”), made that point rather poignantly in his most recent book, “David and Goliath”. Power, according to Gladwell, has an important limitation. “It has to be seen as legitimate, or else its use has the opposite of its intended effect”, which may then come with dire consequences.


All said, I do not believe that the systemic abuse that is evident in this matter will be resolved with the sack of Oduah by President Goodluck Jonathan who yesterday instituted a probe. That won’t happen anyway and the well-connected minister who is currently in Israel ahead of the president must know that. Besides, on the balance of available evidence, I am of the opinion that it is the NCAA that should actually be held accountable for this sordid drama. But even at that, what has come out quite clearly from the entire transaction is that in the conduct of government business today in our country, we have gone beyond impunity to “tani o mu mi”--a strange place where both the codes of morality and the boundary between right and wrong have simply disappeared. That is what should worry all of us.-Segun Adeniyi of Thisday Newspaper

Sunny_bobo: Then it must have been carried out during the reign of Harold Demuren.

So what's the difference between 6 and half a dozen?

eGuerrilla:

^^^
What a bunch of lucky sods these visiting dignitaries are. I bet they travel in armoured vehicles in their respective countries too.
And wait, if 12 of them were to arrive at ago, you either get a few to board molue to their destination or you turn the BMWs into a shuttle service.

Whoever authored this piece of hogwash must think we were all born yesterday.
Arrant nonsense!

ogb5:

Must you insult others?
What contract splitting are you talking about?

If it followed due process, then that is it. If you dont like the outcome of your due process then look into the process and fix the process because as we speak that is the process that will be followed for present and future procurements

GeneralShepherd:

Nwanne abum nwa afor Igbo full time. It is absurd the way you guys are willing to defend brazen corruption because the accused is Ibo. It is horrible pathetic.

From Stella loot, 1kobo u no go see.

HolyHolla: Meanwhile, another story posted by Hope for Nigeria on FB confirms that
the 4 Limousines parked at NAMA compound belong to Overland as
claimed by NAMA Officials.
**Nigerian social media reported last week that they belong to aviation
minister.
The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) said on Wednesday
that the four limousines parked at the Total Radar Coverage of Nigeria
site at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja, belonged to a non-scheduled
airline operator, Overland Airways.
A senior official of NAMA told our correspondent that the cars had nothing
to do with the airspace management agency.
The official, who pleaded not to be named because he was not authorised
to speak on the subject, said that the Ministry of Aviation was not the
owners of the luxury vehicles.
An online medium, Sahara Reporters, had reported on Monday that NAMA
purchased four Toyota Tundra and four stretch limousine vehicles for the
embattled aviation minister, Stella Oduah.
It said the vehicles were in addition to the two armoured cars purchased
for Oduah by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority at an allegedly inflated
cost of N255m, a development that had sparked public outrage.
But the source at the airspace agency said, “NAMA has nothing to do with
those vehicles. They are owned by a concessionaire who also is an owner
of a chartered airline. The cars are used for conveying VIPs by Overland
Airways. You may confirm from them.”
The NAMA official described the report as false, stressing that the cars
were used to transport passengers that patronised the carrier’s services.
The source said, “The cars are owned by a private operator who was given
concessions to move VIPs to different locations, and for emphasis this is
what is on ground. The cars are not owned by NAMA.
The spokesperson for NAMA, Mr. Supo Atobatele, in a statement had
described the reports that the agency owned the luxury vehicles as
“frivolous, malicious and mischievous.”
He said, “We hereby make it categorically clear to the unsuspecting public
that this evil story, as being promoted is patently false in its entirety and is
calculated to put the agencyand the office of the minister into disrepute.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the said Limousines belong to a
concessionaire who is running a VIP shuttle service for non-scheduled
operators.”
The emerging questions now are, 'Who owns Overland?' And 'Who
purchased the limos?' 'What is the stake of the Honourable Minister in the
concessioneering?'

But an official of Overland, Mr. Monday Ukoha, said that he had no idea about the cars and who owned them.

“I don’t have that information and I don’t know about that,” he told our correspondent.

When asked who in the company could speak on the parked Limousines, Ukoha said, “I won’t know now. Let me call you back. The truth is that I don’t know about it and if I knew about it then I would have been able to direct you to the person that can give you the information you seek.”

arowolobioyinbo: She was silent on the cost which happens to be the major concern of Nigerians and other observers.

bigtalla: *Stella walks into GEJ's office after receiving a call from him inviting her for a meeting*

STELLA: Your Sexcellency, Welcome back from Isreal. Have u seen my response to your query?

GEJ: Which query?

STELLA: The query concerning the BMW cars, your sexcellency..

GEJ: Oh that one?.. i was only joking oo.. So, u wasted ur time replying that rubbish?

STELLA: *feeling releived*, so sir, why did u invite me over..

GEJ: Abeg, sit down let me gist you about my flexing in Isreal.. I didn't know they have fine babes like dis oo.......*fade*

idupaul: Stella I have read your submissions as regards your defense in the case of misappropriation and primal /endtime fraud leveled against your royal self and I would like you to address the following questions begging for answers :





1: You clearly failed intentionally or by ommission to address the exorbitant cost of the "specialised" vehicles when compared to prevailing prices around the world .






2: You have failed to explain why in the light of the dearth of funds in the NCAA you chose prioritize questionable specialized vehicles in preference to other more important project like staff training that were on your opportunity cost table.




3. You have failed to address how over hundred million naira was paid back to you by Messrs Coscharis in what looks like a kick back.



4. You failed to mention the status and positions of the August visitors that NCAA receives that warrants such A grade security vehicles to convey .. E..G President Obama and President Putin or maybe the Pope.




5: Are such vehicles used by other Aviation authorities elsewhere to convey ICAO officials. Please be free to use Pakistan or Iraq as a comparison.



6. Investigations have shown that ICAO usually arranges for their own Logistics and Itinerary through their local office when ever they are around. So how are were your specialized beamers going fit in here.



Thank you Princess as we all look forward to getting another submission that will address these question and allay the popular fear that the aviation sector is in really bad hand which I hope and pray is not true.