₦airaland Forum

Twenty-four hours after her claim to have acquired a Masters degree from the St. Paul’s College in the United States was punctured, PREMIUM TIMES has uncovered another false claim by our embattled Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah.

This time, the minister lied on oath to the Nigerian Senate, claiming another American ‘university, Pacific Christian University awarded her an honorary doctorate degree in 1998.

Mrs. Oduah made the claim in a 7-page resume she distributed to Nigeria’s 109 senators during her confirmation hearing on July 2, 2011.

On page four of the document, the minister claimed the university, which she said was based in Glendale, awarded her an honorary doctorate in Business Administration.

Download the resume Minister Stella Oduah submitted to the senate here.

It was based on this document that she was grilled and eventually confirmed by the lawmakers.

But investigations by PREMIUM TIMES suggest that no university called Pacific Christian University exists in the United States.

The U.S. Department of Education, through its National Centre for Education Statistics, keeps an up-to-date database of all public libraries and educational institutions in the country – public, private and colleges.

PREMIUM TIMES reporters spent hours on Wednesday searching this database.

Our reporters searched by state (California), city (Glendale) and name of institution (Pacific Christian University). Yet, nothing came up in the name of the university Mrs. Oduah claimed gave her an honorary doctorate.

According to the database, there are six colleges (universities) in Glendale, a city of 191,719 inhabitants in Los Angeles County, in the state of California.

The colleges are American Medical Sciences Centre, Brand College, Glendale Career College, Glendale Community and North-West College.

There is no such university known as Christian Pacific College as claimed by the minister.

The spokesperson for the National Centre for Educational Statistics, Susan Ad, could however not be reached for comments.

She is yet to return calls and reply an email sent to her by this newspaper.

The spokespersons for the minister appear unwilling to comment for this story.

Efforts by PREMIUM TIMES to get them to react to this new revelation were unsuccessful.

Joe Obi, her special assistant on media, did not answer or return calls.

Yakubu Datti, the spokesperson of the aviation agencies, who usually speak for her, answered our call but immediately said he would call back. He is yet to do so as at the time of publishing this.

Meanwhile, in the same resume she submitted to the Senate, Mrs. Oduah did not indicate that she got a Masters from St. Paul, raising questions on why she made that claim in her official citations and profiles posted on the Ministry of Aviation website, her personal website and her Wikipedia page.

She only claimed in the document to the Senate that she obtained a Bachelor of Science degree from St. Paul’s College in 1982, a claim that PREMIUM TIMES is investigating.

The spokesperson for the Nigerian senate, Enyinnaya Abaribe, tried Tuesday to extricate the senate from blame as Nigerians criticize the lawmakers for conducting a sham screening exercise that allowed Mrs. Oduah to get away with lies and deceits.

Mr. Abaribe said the lawmakers depend largely on the nation’s security agencies to help them investigate claims by appointees of the president.

He said in conducting screening exercises, the senate relies largely on reports forwarded to it by the security agencies.

Mrs. Oduah, and her associates have spent the last several hours scrambling to clean up the minister’s biographies on the Internet, following allegations that she lied about her academic qualifications.

Already, Mrs. Oduah’s biography on the website of the Ministry of Aviation has been revised, with references to St. Paul’s College now wiped out.

The Wikipedia page of the minister was also edited and it now has no reference to the university Mrs. Oduah attended. The last edit on the Wikipedia page was done at 14:41 p.m. Nigerian time Tuesday.

All links and reference materials on the Wikipedia page capable of linking the minister to the university that has disowned her have also been deleted.

Even the minister’s personal website has been reviewed to remove any reference to St. Paul’s College.

Mrs. Oduah had since October been enmeshed in a a N255million armoured cars scandal in which she was accused of compelling an agency under her supervision, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, to buy her two exotic bullet cars at clearly inflated prices.

The purchase of the cars generated outrage for weeks because its cost was inflated, and it was neither listed in the government-approved budget nor did it comply with the Nigeria’s public procurement law.

The House of Representatives has since asked President Goodluck Jonathan to sack the minister but the president has failed to act


http://premiumtimesng.com/news/152958-aviation-minister-stella-oduah-in-fresh-fake-doctorate-degree-scandal.html

awodman: Lol...I gave you a PremiumTimes Link(not SR),Why not open the link and check the paragraph I quoted?....

Other Posters can help us verify who is the dim.wit here

awodman: And you curiously left this part un-highlighted



And the bolded is exactly same name PremiumTimes used

In the CV, Ms. Oduah also claimed to have an honorary Ph.D degree in Business Administration from “Pacific Christian University Glendale, California” in 1998, but SaharaReporters is so far unable to verify that information.

A preliminary investigation of "Pacific Christian University" shows it does not exist as one of the 93 accredited theology schools in California. The nearest result, by name and geography, is "Azusa Pacific University", which is in Azusa, not Glendale. There is as yet no information about the status of honorary Ph.Ds at that institution

The school purchased campus property in Long Beach
in 1936, and construction started in 1940. In 1962, the
school’s name was changed to Pacific Christian College
and achieved regional accreditation. When the Long
Beach campus was no longer adequate to house the
growth of the college, they relocated to Fullerton in
1973. In 1997 the institution achieved university
status and took the name of Hope International
University.

atlwireles: Look at this criminal, trying to create a crime where there was none. You these children of hate and bitterness need another hobby than spreading lies.

awodman: Pacific Christain University exists...it is now known as Hope International University www.hiu.edu/about/history/

HISTORY

A Proud Heritage of Christian Education and Service
Pacific Bible Seminary

Hope International University is a private Christian University identified with non-denominational Christian Churches/Churches of Christ, and was founded on October 9, 1928, as Pacific Bible Seminary.

The school purchased campus property in Long Beach in 1936, and construction started in 1940. In 1962, the school’s name was changed to Pacific Christian College and achieved regional accreditation. When the Long Beach campus was no longer adequate to house the growth of the college, they relocated to Fullerton in 1973. In 1997 the institution achieved university status and took the name of Hope International University.

Today, the University is composed of five Colleges including College of Arts & Sciences, College of Business & Management, College of Education, Pacific Christian College of Ministry & Biblical Studies, and College of Psychology & Counseling. Within the Colleges are programs for traditional undergraduate students, online students, and graduate

rati ken: Can you see how stupid you and your APC touts you've become? Nigerians know you guys better now. DESPERATE.

atlwireles: Na so crazy dey start. This woman will make you hug transformer soon.

Alfa Seltzer: Sahara reporters sinking deeper in their shit.

They claimed she lied on her cv. She shows her cv. Now they claim the cv shows websites were lying. What type of gutter journalism is this?

RECORE MAN: Who is after this woman? What's her offence? Abeggi, leave this woman alone

ckkris: Stella Odua is like her name, a star, shining BRILLIANTLY, higher and far above her lazy detractors.

HAVING tried all the delay tricks in the book, President Goodluck Jonathan is now confronted with a choice: retain the Aviation Minister, Stella Oduah, or sack her. The President’s body language and vacillation demonstrate unmistakeably that he prefers to keep the controversial minister. This is a tragic error of judgment and confirms to the whole world what many Nigerians already know: that Jonathan’s body language encourages corruption.

Indeed, most Nigerians believe that under the current administration, the war against corruption is virtually lost. Jonathan will only be confirming the view of critics by his continued waffling over Oduahgate. Surely, he does his credibility no good by retaining a minister that has been so tainted in a corruption scandal. Just two weeks ago, in response to an acerbic letter to him from a former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, which was leaked to the press, he pompously declared that he (Jonathan) was fighting corruption. “I have been strengthening the institutions established to fight corruption. I will not shield any government official or private individual involved in corruption…,” he declared.

But he has been shielding Oduah in the full glare of the public. When the news first broke in October via an online publication that the minister had allegedly caused two bullet-proof BMW limousines to be purchased for her by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, in violation of the law, he kept quiet. It was only after much public outcry and a probe got under way at the House of Representatives that he belatedly asked her to be queried. As more revelations emerged from the House probe demonstrating how the minster exceeded her spending limits of N100 million, how import duty waivers were misapplied and how NCAA officials and other aviation parastatals “contravened the Appropriation Act 2013,” Jonathan sought to buy time by setting up an unnecessary three-man administrative panel to examine the case.

Diversionary though it was, the panel had submitted its report since mid-November. While one can concede to the President the need to be cautious to avoid penalising the innocent, seven weeks after the panel turned in its report and another two after a damning verdict by the House probe should surely be enough for the President to demonstrate that he truly abhors corruption. If his concern, as he said in his response to Obasanjo, is “to follow due process in all that I do,” this high-minded requirement has been amply met by the House probe and his own panel.

Jonathan is simply not serious about combating corruption as widely alleged by his critics and confirmed by all global corruption rating agencies. The standard worldwide by nations where corruption is truly detested is to fire any official tainted by even a whiff of wrongdoing if the person fails to resign. Jonathan has not been asked to convict Oduah; only a court of law can do that. All that Nigerians expect of him, and as the House of Representatives recommended, is that he should fire Oduah. She has been sufficiently tainted to make her continued presence in government odious.

In Turkey, three top cabinet ministers have resigned in a corruption case that does not even name them directly as beneficiaries; in Ghana, a deputy minister of communications was promptly sacked by President John Mahama for merely expressing a desire to make $1 million in politics; in Italy, a three-time prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, has been convicted on corruption charges, while a former Israeli president, Ezer Weizman, was investigated and only avoided criminal prosecution due to the statute of limitation. In any other country, Oduah would have since resigned or been sacked and, together with the complicit aviation officials, prosecuted. Indeed, prosecution would afford Oduah an opportunity to prove the innocence she has steadfastly claimed.

Jonathan is letting another opportunity to take a stand against corruption slip by. Does he relish Nigeria’s persistent rating as one of the most corrupt nations on earth? The nation’s landscape is littered with unresolved corruption scandals to the extent that many Nigerians consider corruption to be much worse than our latest rating as the world’s 144th out of 177 in the Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index. His declaration in his 2014 New Year message that he would “take additional steps to stem the tide of corruption and leakages” sounds patently hollow.

Nigerians should not allow Jonathan and Oduah to get away with this missuse of public office. Since our President cannot live up to the standards of decorum in public office that the world has now come to accept, the House of Representatives should not stop at its recommendations; it should insist that Nigeria meets global practices in public morality and seriously combats corruption.

The Oduah case goes beyond partisan politics; corruption has laid Nigeria low and handicapped all development efforts. Public officials are stealing the people blind at the federal, state and local government levels and the anti-graft agencies appear to have lost their bite.

However, it is not too late for Jonathan to stamp out the stench of corruption swirling around his Presidency by genuinely backing the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Related Offences Commission and the Code of Conduct Bureau to fulfil their mandate. He should change his body language and send clear signals that corruption will no longer be tolerated.

The place to start is by sacking Oduah.

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Bukingg2: This thread is mainly for SOUTH SOUTH and SOUTH EAST but if you dnt believe in tribalism you can join from any part
Ogologo okwu adihi ñ ukâ mgbédê, to cute the story short my well ss/se it is high time we start doing what is needed to be done before it is too late. It is time we stand up for the world to know that yes we have sacrifice alot starting from biafra war till date. It is time we let the world know that this so call our united nation is only united when some parts are been subjected to slavery. It is time we tell everyone that if they really don't want us we couldn't be their slave anymore. It is a time we look at the brave battle our foefathers forth for us, it time we need to stand up and did the same for our future children.
Started from the day one of our beloved president enter into asu rock till date we all have seen that there is no united nigeria, if u may quote me wrong remember that it was the 1st day that they announced the winner of mr president from minority that was the 1st time some of the electoral staffs were brutally killed, as if that was not enough the so called boko haram sworn and said that Nigeria will be ungovernable following from the barbaric word stated from their ever glory leader Buhari the story you know more.
If you can recall very well you will agree with me that there is no president in nigeria history they have attached as they did to GEJ, starting from the day our beloved president died (Yar'a dua) may his soul rest in peace, till date, from the Senate to house of rep and all.,impeachment to open letter and so on. But he still remains the best among them all from my views, Let me us be realistic ask yourself why is it that when Femi Kayode was the minister of aviation industry nobody dare to bring out of his corruption but only when an igbo lady take the post that everyone knows that there is corruption in aviation industry, haven't you hard that when femi was there he employed even a barbar to be a mechanical engineer as far you are a Yoruba and he takes place 20% off your salaries from each person, from experience I know a person who studied environmentalist but was employed as a mechanical engineering at aviation industry, but when femi got off what was the 1st thinge he did? He went straight to attack igbos with his article we all read, after that he went to destroy the image of the wife of our great leader Bianka, the same femi is here again to tell you how eagerly they are to subdued us back to slavery(read (https://www.nairaland.com/1582853/stand-apc-should-field-presidency)
Please my dear brethren anyi ga eji maka mgbabu yara ogu? Asi na nkwucha abuhi ujò..
To save all the crictism with the open letter, apc propaganda let us start to chase ewu ojíî ñ éhihê tupu chi êchiê, , remember a word is very deep in human life, OBJ clearly stated that GEJ might be the last of the minorities wich Asari Dokubo Replies him and said if so then we dont even want to rule Nigeria but rule our own country the way it should be. So now my ss/se thank God we are in fast comminication and IT time, Egypt start from internet Syria the same Saudi Arabia women the same now we can. Let's start befor they will invade us as of old. We are not doing by gun, knife, , hatred, bomb or any material philosophical harmful weapons but we shall start by one vioce,United, solidarity,strategy, one ideology and one focus..
Here is our 1st start no body is above anyone,nobody is a ruler, nobody's will will be placed as the most we all shall be one in every aspect till we get what we want join us here and on our official twitter page
Twitter handle is @nigeriaforgej
Remember this is no political hand in this only for those it may concern love u all but the truth must be told.

manny4life: Honestly I'd like to hear her response, there's nothing wrong in having a Bachelor, but adding extra that's nonexistent is wrong. Well, let's wait for her response.

Promhize: Sahara reporters shouldn't have been so lazy not add links and names to the article.

Garri the 1st: This attack against Ndigbo must be resisted by all sons and daughters of Ndigbo....

berem: @ abagworo kedu? Its good to know this thread is still on. I have pictures i snapped in Orlu and i promise to post them when i get back to lagos. I have been in orlu since 31st december and its been a wonderful holiday. I am impressed about what i have seen so far but more has to be done in orlu especially the abandoned project along ihioma-amaifeke road. The ogberuru-obibi ochasi road needs expansion too. That road is a death trap. Daalu!