Stella Oduah in N18bn Aviation Scam

December 18, 2015



OrderPaperToday – Documents have revealed how about $122million (N18.3bn) was withdrawn in questionable circumstances from the Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) account of the Aviation Ministry and yet the ministry of Aviation is saddled with a debt burden of N100Billion

Documents exclusively obtained by ORDERPAPER.NG indicate that at least $23million (N3.4bn) of these removals were made between 2012 and 2014 when Mrs. Stella Oduah held sway as minister of Aviation.

The pattern of withdrawals fell short of due process and arouse suspicions as the account statements from the banks failed to indicate to whom the moneys were paid and/or for what purposes.

In each case, the transactions were all carried out on a particular day in different ranches (as indicated in the documents attached.)

The BASA account is domiciled in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and is operated through third party commercial banks in some cases. It is spent only on approval from the president for intervention purposes usually requested by the minister of aviation.

Sources say to facilitate the suspicious transactions on the fund, Oduah allegedly built a web and network of loyalists and appointed cronies as heads of various parastatals of the Aviation Ministry who continued to do her bidding even out of office.

These cronies, according to sources withdrew $9.2million in December 2014 and another $4.1million in June, 2015, one month after the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration was inaugurated.

When ORDERPAPER.NG contacted Mr. Osita Chidoka, Oduah’s successor as minister, if he directed any withdrawal from the account, this is how he replied: “Thanks for asking. I believe the ministry will have the details of expenditure from all its accounts. I don’t have any details to provide. Feel free to contact me if you require any clarifications.”

Did President Buhari approve any withdrawal from BASA account in June? When ORDERPAPER.NG contacted Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina on this question, he referred our reporter to the Ministry for details.

But former Permanent Secretary in charge of Aviation, Binta Bello said funding for aviation projects halted once Oduah was removed as minister.

“Since she left, these intervention funds stopped,” she said at a meeting with the senate committee on Aviation November 3, 2015.

However, findings by ORDERPAPER.NG showed that the BASA funds continued to be accessed severally even when Oduah had left office.

Details of the June 2015 transactions on the BASA Account domiciled at the London branch of First Bank revealed that six successive withdrawals totalling $4,140,309.25 were made on June 29, 2015. A breakdown of the withdrawals is as follows: $2,057,536.64; $88,866.18; $1,688,457.45; $88,866.18; $108,291.40; and $108,291.40.

In December 2014, over $9m was removed from the BASA account through the First Bank London branch on the 10th day of the month in tranches of five successive withdrawals.

Attempts to get the Director-General of the NCAA, Mr. Muhtar Usman to explain these withdrawals were futile as he did not respond to phone calls and text messages sent to his phones.

The NCAA is the statutory signatory to the BASA account.

Like previous other questionable withdrawals, the account statement for the month of June did not give details of who specifically collected the monies nor stated the purpose for the withdrawals as it simply said ‘payment as per instruction’ in each case.

Findings by ORDERPAPER.NG indicated that under Oduah as minister, the BASA fund was accessed severally even when contractors were being owed for projects purportedly undertaken and for which the ministry continued to pile debts.

Ms Bello had put the total debt by the ministry at N100billion shortly before the new minister, Mr. Hadi Sirika assumed office.

In another suspicious transaction, a statement of the BASA account for the month of February 2013 when Oduah was in office showed that some $13.4million was collected same day on the 4th of February 2013 in tranches of four withdrawals which failed to indicate the direct beneficiary or purpose for which the payments were made as the remark on each withdrawal simply read “Payment as Per Your Instruction.”

Beside using BASA funds supposedly for airports remodelling projects, the Federal Executive Council approved N20bn worth of contracts for the ministry under Oduah in 2013.

Although ORDERPAPER.NG could not confirm if full payments were made, investigations so far indicate that the contracts may have simply been conduit pipes for corruption since most of the projects were unexecuted and yet the ministry remains indebted to the tune of N100billion.

It is in the light of these questionable deals that Mrs. Oduah may have lobbied her way to be a member of the Senate Aviation Committee which oversights the ministry and parastatals under it.

When contacted for clarifications Mrs, Oduah rained invectives on our reporter over the phone, accusing him of blackmail and threatening to “fight you social media people with the last drop of my blood.”

She said: “I will sue you. I have two online publishing that I fund. Before when I was in government I took those rubbish, but this time I won’t take this rubbish. Go ahead and publish. I am not afraid. It is untrue and unfair. I have served this country. I don’t deserve this. I will fight you to the finish. I will fight you with the last drop of my blood.”

In all her tantrums, Mrs. Oduah failed to address the specific questions for which she was contacted.

Recall that Oduah was sacked from office in February 2014 after the House of Representatives and a presidential panel both indicted her in the N225million BMW cars scandal which had attracted huge public opprobrium to the Goodluck Jonathan administration. She won a seat into the senate in the 2015 general election.

[b]Editor’s Note:

Mrs. Oduah’s response to a simple journalistic inquiry as dictated by the ethics of the profession elicited threats to deal with the reporter through extra-legal means.

For the sake of clarity, this is the text message our reporter sent to her: “Hello Sen. Oduah, We are in possession of documents of how some $122m was removed from the BASA Account in the CBN/First Bank (100367-USD-CLBANK-16) during your tenure as minister. Also at least N20bn contracts approved by FEC under your tenure failed or were phony projects for which payments were allegedly made. Your reaction pls.”

We wish to state that ORDERPAPER.NG operates strictly within the tenets and ethics of responsible journalism guided by objectivity, balance and fair hearing. We would NEVER engage in deliberate falsehood or blackmail as Mrs. Oduah alleged in her wild response. We state unequivocally that none of our reporter has ever met, received nor solicited from Mrs. Oduah as she hysterically suggested in her vitriolic monologue over the phone. We challenge her to prove otherwise.

While we have no reservations should she choose to pursue her rights within the limits of the law, we would however not be blackmailed from doing our job; not even by threats to life. Our investigations into the N20bn failed contracts and other suspicious deals under her watch as minister continue and will publish our reports in due course.[/b]

Source: http://www.orderpaper.ng/stella-oduah-n18bn-aviation-scam/

Smh!

“Hello Sen. Oduah, We are in possession of documents of how some $122m was removed from the BASA Account in the CBN/First Bank (100367-USD-CLBANK-16) during your tenure as minister. Also at least N20bn contracts approved by FEC under your tenure failed or were phony projects for which payments were allegedly made. Your reaction pls.”

This is the only lady that needs to end up in prison without even trial, one of the most corrupt ladies in Nigeria. Nothing Good has ever come out of the Lady.

Okay... Could we have #OduahGate too

oya presido go visit her o send Your boys to go investigate the matter

Only prison can make this fat woman to stop stealing public funds

Her life is based on deceit and lies. EFCC should set the ball rolling ASAP

Did anyone get the news about passengers disembarking a plane in Bauchi on a painter's ladder?

Thank God there is no evil immunity shielding Senators, Madam Oduah, you're next. #Hotseatloading

This woman was one of the reasons that made GEJ to loose the election. Let the news keep coming out, Nigerians are watching.

Stella oduah in the news again for the very same reason,is it ghosts that withdrew the monies?

Yoruba media at it again...chasing and destroying the image of our beautiful, intelligent and successful Biafran women...Iweala, Oduah, Oteh and Madueke. The latter Madueke; they are chasing her to make sure she dies of stress...they are rentless with her. Peddling lies she has purchased Dominican citizenship. We SS and SE are very stu$pid not to see this.

If she will go to jail after d investigation has cum true..i will kill a fowl bt if not..hmmmm

Stella Odua ?? U again . I knew it... U av Just 3 options left for u... One:evade arrest from the DSS and EFCC by taking ur own life, 2:return all the looted funds and quietly go to jail or 3:join hands with massob and iPOD for the agitation of Biafra simply because there's no more breathing space for criminals in diz country anymore talkless of a female fraud like u...


Itz about time we revisited the much acclaimed #oduagate...









Post No Bill...

Front page. Mods.

Oduah again?

OMG!!! Where were all these guys taking these dollars to?? Gosh!!

PDP supporters can all see these, from Dasuki to Oduah, a mass assault on our dollar reserves, most of which must have been laundered abroad, making the currency scarce locally thereby putting so much pressure on the naira with the attendant consequences we see today. Yet they try to blame the depreciation of the value of the naira on the current government. Smh.

Very commendable investigative work by the paper. Never heard of them but I think they know their onions.

How in God's name didn't SR or PT get the scoop before these guys??

The only crime she committed.... Upgrading Enugu airport to international standard and hell lose in South West.

The paper should do more and find out the recipients of the withdrawn money. That's how SR and PT roll.......until then,this story looks like a figment of someone's imagination especially the funny looking account statements.

The page is about to be turning to Ffk chapter..

This is the direct result of stealer oduah's lootocracy.

I only have one question. When are they going to open up the books of the ministry of education? Let's see how much oga wike embezzled na!

Am not surprise because corruption is not new to our Brothers in RAFAIB Republic

NIGERIA



Million-Millions and Billion-Billions.

Na wah



Nigeria, Good People Great Nation


Well let us wait for more facts to be revealed.

No be new thing

Secretario:


You are ill spawned. You father should have used a condom.

Imagine the nonsense you are spewing, someone embezzled money and there is evidence against her and you call it destroying image. They don't have image again.

Are you so dumb or you are pulling a stunt.

Trash.

as much as I do no not support embezzlement... where is her name in the screenshot?

omenka:
OMG!!! Where were all these guys taking these dollars to?? Gosh!!

Spoken like someone wey nor sabi wack life!

You think a night in the presidential suite of burj al Arab na play sontin?

You don't like to ride rolls royce phantom, bullet proof BMW or fly private, dem get standard & class!

PDP supporters can all see these, from Dasuki to Oduah, a mass assault on our dollar reserves, most of which must have been laundered abroad, making the currency scarce locally thereby putting so much pressure on the naira with the attendant consequences we see today. Yet they try to blame the depreciation of the value of the naira on the current government. Smh.
Very commendable investigative work by the paper. Never heard of them but I think they know their onions.How in God's name didn't SR or PT get the scoop before these guys??[right][/right]

Probably someone connected to the blog decided to help the blog, now we know about the blog, this is how to get "noticed".

As for exchange rates issues, it is only the illiterates & the minds that don't function that can't put 2 & 2 together about fall in oil price+ election dollarisation + mono export economy + excessive desire for foreign stuff (I'm a tad guilty of this too but what can we do when we nor dey gree make beta tinz) to arrive at the Naira situation..

modath:




Spoken like someone wey nor sabi wack life!

You think a night in the presidential suite of burj al Arab na play sontin?

You don't like to ride rolls royce phantom, bullet proof BMW or fly private, dem get standard & class!




Probably someone connected to the blog decided to help the blog, now we know about the blog, this is how to get "noticed".

As for exchange rates issues, it is only the illiterates & the minds that don't function that can't put 2 & 2 together about fall in oil price+ election dollarisation + mono export economy + excessive desire for foreign stuff(I'm a tad guilty of this too but what can we do when we nor dey gree make beta tinz) to arrive at the Naira situation..

The emboldened section of your post brings to mind a DG who decided to acquire property in a certain European country, well into the twilight of Jonathan's administration. I am currently monitoring press releases, as I am expecting his name to come up any time soon.
If I tell you the little I know about how this particular individual traveled abroad every so often, under the guise of developing new foreign partnerships - when nothing could be further from the truth - you are bound to get upset on this auspicious day of reflection.