At a combative House of Representatives hearing Thursday, lawmakers and the Bureau of Public Procurement, BPP, debunked claims by aviations agencies and the minister on the raging car purchase scandal rocking the aviation ministry.

Both purchases, at an alarming cost of N255 million, were not approved in the budget as the ministry and the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, have claimed; and did not pass the Due Processes test, the BPP and the House Aviation committee said.

The House committee admitted formally that the NCAA made known its plan to purchase the two armoured cars, but that plan was struck out during budget approval by lawmakers.

"The constitution is clear: no public fun shall be spent without the approval of the National Assembly," said Nkiruka Onyejiocha, who heads the aviation committee.

That claim was backed by details of the budget of the NCAA made available at the hearing, which showed how the armoured car proposal was struck off by the legislators.

In the proposed budget, the agency proposed to spend N140 million for two armoured cars for "executive movements and security/safety purposes". The agency also proposed to buy assorted brands of Toyota cars as operational vehicles.

But in the approved budget, signed by the Aviation committee chairpersons in the Senate and the House, the armoured cars were deleted.

However, the National Assembly approved 25 operational vehicles for the NCAA, comprising of Toyota Hilux, Corollas, Prados and Hiaces at the total cost of N240 million.

But defying relevant laws, the NCAA, in its implementation, bought 54 cars, including the two armoured BMW cars that were rejected by the lawmakers, all at a total of N643 million, with a financing from First Bank that may raise the total close to N1 billion when all interests are added.

A surprising point was how the armoured cars, even when they had been rejected, suddenly rose from N140 million that the agency proposed to the National Assembly, to N255 million, an amount that has added to the fury many Nigerians have shown since the scandal broke, calling for the removal of the minister, Mrs. Oduah.

The minister, currently in Israel, must attend the hearing on Tuesday, the house committee ruled.

In her first reaction to the controversy, one of the most intense the nation has seen in months, Mrs. Oduah assured President Goodluck Jonathan in a reply to the president's query that the purchase was not only budgeted for, but followed 'Due Process'

"Due Process was followed in the procurement of the said operational vehicles," Mrs. Oduah told the President in a response to a query issued her by the president.

Both claims were false, it emerged at the hearing.

Ayo Aderibigbe, who represented Emeka Eze, the director general of the BPP, demonstrated that point when asked to make a presentation on the purchase Thursday.

He read the requests for information on four areas in the House committee's letter- including request for correspondences between NCAA and the bureau; the Certificate of No Objection awarded to NCAA as green light for the purchases-and declared all as unavailable.

"We have nothing to forward to the honourable house on this because they don't exist," he said for each, implying the NCAA did not subject any of the purchases through the required procurement stipulations.

The procurement was done under Joyce Nkemakolam as acting director general of the NCAA. Despite apparent evidences to the contrary, Mr. Nkemakolam insisted at the hearing that the purchases were lawful.

When questioned by the committee chairperson, Mrs. Onyejiocha, if the purchase was right, he answered in the affirmative. He also insisted that it was in the budget.

Asked to provide evidence, he referred the committee to a subhead in the approved budget which allows for the purchase of "operational vehicles". As stated in the budget, such vehicles were supposed to be used for inspection and monitoring, of airport perimeter fencing.

"There is no way armoured cars can be used for the inspection of perimeter fences," argued Jerry Manwe, a member of the committee from Taraba state.

Mr. Nkemakolam said the subhead was a "holistic description" with import stretching to cover the armoured cars.

But while it was clear the National Assembly was unaware of the purchase, Mr. Nkemakolam said in his presentation- which had the same content as one sent by Mrs. Oduah to President Jonathan- that the NCAA wrote to the minister for approval before buying the cars, and the minister approved.

Coscharis, the firm that supplied the car at a rate many believe was deliberately inflated, appealed to be allowed to respond on Tuesday as the head of the company, Cosmas Maduka, was away in China, and would be returning soon.

The committee said the representatives of the NCAA, including current director general, could not answer required questions satisfactorily and directed the agency to return on Tuesday with all invoices involved in the transaction and a six-month statement of account of the bureau.

let see how this brouhaha will end.


m.allafrica.com