Reps accuse Minister of inflating N4bn airport contract to N63bn
By Otei Oham, Correspondent, Abuja

Members of the House of Representatives on Wednesday accused Minister of Aviation, Babatunde Omotoba, of cashing in on the absence of President Umaru Yar’Adua from the country to inflate an airport contract of N4 billion to N63 billion.




http://odili.net/news/source/2010/mar/4/405.html

According to them, within about 90 days of the President’s stay in Saudi Arabia, where he was receiving medical attention on a heart problem, the minister connived with certain persons in government to carry out the fraudulent act.

This is just as they have mandated their Committee on Petroleum Resources to seek warrant of arrest on the Minister of Petroleum, Rilwan Lukeman, Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Muhammed Barkindo, and head of Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) if they continue to flout their (Reps’) directives and invitations.

The House Committee had complained that the officials were in constant habit of ignoring their summons.

In a plenary session, members agreed that due process was waved in the award of the Abuja Airport Second Runway and that the contract sum was blown up to the N63 billion.

Their decision followed a motion by Dino Melaye (PDP Kogi), which called for thorough investigations by relevant committees of the House.

Chairman, House Committee on Aviation, Bethel Amadi, would however expand on the allegations in a briefing today, and is likely to seek prosecution of those alleged to be involved in the contract inflation to a German construction firm.

After exhaustive debate on the motion, members agreed that the International Civil Aviation Control Authority should also be invited to assess the project and compare it with the contract sum as against what is obtainable elsewhere in the world.

In his contributions, Amadi told members that investigations by his committee revealed both the design and the building plan of the second runway was wrong and that level playing ground was not provided for the bidders for the contract.

According to him, the contract sum of N63 billion equivalent to $423 million was not only too expensive but high and outrageous when compared to what is obtainable elsewhere in the world.

He cited example of a recent complete airport built in Ethiopia at the cost of only $130 million and another one in Thailand also for $130 million equivalent of N18 billion.

u beat me to it. i was just about to post the same story from tribune.

i mean 4bn to 64bn ? pple no dey fear God at all.

Fear God in Nigeria? . Are you crazy?

What r they still waiting 4?
Hand him ova 2 EFCC and let the investigation begin.

The banana peel of corruption in the aviation sector for Yoruba ministers. From Borishade to Fani Kayode to Omotoba. At the end of this regime, EFCC cells will be filled to the brim with Yoruba ex-ministers as was the case after Obj's era. We dey sidon look.

henry101:

What r they still waiting 4?
Hand him ova 2 EFCC and let the investigation begin.

I don't know why they are warning him now so he can manipulate more figures to cover his thieving behind.

blackmann:

i mean 4bn to 64bn ? pple no dey fear God at all.

This is how u know how wicked people are. I do not condone stealing in any way, but when some smart people want to steal, they steal small so you won't notice. But when a human being steals an additional 60 BILLION!  In a country where people are suffering and dying everyday?  In fact, words cannot express how I feel. I leave them for God to judge.

kech:

This is how u know how wicked people are. I do not condone stealing in any way, but when some smart people want to steal, they steal small so you won't notice. But when a human being steals an additional 60 BILLION! In a country where people are suffering and dying everyday? In fact, words cannot express how I feel. I leave them for God to judge.

abd all just to make a 4km runway. like someone said somewhere, God has turned a blind eye on Nigeria.

kech:

This is how u know how wicked people are. I do not condone stealing in any way, but when some smart people want to steal, they steal small so you won't notice. But when a human being steals an additional 60 BILLION!  In a country where people are suffering and dying everyday?  In fact, words cannot express how I feel. I leave them for God to judge.

Tomorrow now, he will arise as a multi million dollar Nigerian mogul and people will be clapping for him.

Aloy+Emeka:


Tomorrow now, he will arise as a multi million dollar Nigerian mogul and people will be clapping for him.

The same people who have been praying to God to deliver their country.  These people simply have no fear of God or Allah.

kech:

This is how u know how wicked people are. I do not condone stealing in any way, but when some smart people want to steal, they steal small so you won't notice. But when a human being steals an additional 60 BILLION!  In a country where people are suffering and dying everyday?  In fact, words cannot express how I feel. I leave them for God to judge.

Relax the money is not for one person but a group of people and he is just the front runner of that racket. One man cannot just easily steal 60 billion naira.

Pharoh:


[b]
Relax the money is not for one person but a group of people and he is just the front runner of that racke[/b]t. One man cannot just easily steal 60 billion naira. 

And so bleeping what?. The robber and his accomplices are the same