Yesterday,
the Sahara Reporter’s report on two bulletproof BMW cars worth $1.6m (N255m)
for Ms Oduah was called ‘all rumours’ but today is another story as the report
was confirmed. Hmmm mm! The vehicles were bought in other to protect the honorable
minister of Aviation from external threat, Special Assistance to Ms. Stella
Oduah told Punch news paper.
See
more here after the cut…
An online news medium, SaharaReporters,
had reported on Tuesday that the armoured vehicles were delivered to the
minister in August.
The medium reported that
documents in its possession showed that the transaction for the purchase of the
two BMW cars started in June, but the request for the delivery of and payment
for them was fast-tracked between August 13 and 15, 2013.
The transaction involved the
NCAA, First Bank of Nigeria, and Coscharis Motors Limited, according to the
report.
The two black BMW 760 Li HSS
vehicles had chasis numbers WBAHP41050DW68032 and WBAHP41010DW68044, and were
reportedly delivered to the NCAA on August 13, 2013. They were received by two
store managers, F. Onoabhagbe and Y. A. Amzat, who is also the agency’s head of
transport.
Meanwhile, two major air crashes
have occurred under Oduah’s watch.
These were the Dana Air crash in
Lagos on June 3, 2012, in which 163 people died; and the Associated Airlines
crash of October 3, 2013, also in Lagos, which claimed 15 lives.
A day after the Associated
Airlines’ crash, a Kabo Airlines’ Boeing 747-400 plane carrying 512 pilgrims
made an emergency landing at the Sokoto airport with deflated tyres and damaged
the airport’s Instrument Landing System.
On Sunday, an IRS Airlines
Fokker 100 plane carrying 99 passengers also made an emergency landing at the
Kaduna airport, after developing hydraulic problems mid-air.
Four days after the tragic crash
involving Associated Airlines’ Embraer 120 plane, Oduah described air accidents
as God’s will that were inevitable.
She said notwithstanding this
reality, the Federal Government would continue to ensure that there were no
accidents.
The minister made the submission
while fielding questions from State House correspondents on investigations into
the crash.
The minister said, “We do not
pray for accidents but they are inevitable. But we will continue to do
everything to ensure that we do not have accidents. But an accident is an act
of God.
“Again, we do not speculate on
the causes of accidents. Until they happen, you cannot say this is the
cause or that is not the cause. But what is obvious and is the truth is that in
aviation, there are shared responsibilities, starting from the man that carries
your luggage to the man that makes sure that your boarding pass is issued to
you.
“And so, the regulatory agency,
the operators, the management, everybody has his/her responsibility and
all must work in tandem for there to be an optimal, secure and safe aviation
sector in the country. And that is what we have been working on.”
Oduah described those saying that
she left the issue of safety in the airspace to dwell on money-making ventures
as ignorant.
However, much criticism had
since followed her comment.
She had explained that security
and safety could not be achieved without proper funding.
However, the Special Assistant
(Media) to the Minister of Aviation, Mr. Joe Obi, who confirmed the development
on Wednesday, said the vehicles were purchased to protect the minister from
some external threats.
He said in a telephone
conversation with our correspondent, “Yes, it is true that some security
vehicles were procured for the use of the office of the honourable minister in
response to the clear and imminent threat to her personal security and life
following the bold steps she took to reposition the sector.
“When she came on board as the
minister, she inherited a lot of baggage in terms of the concession and lease
agreements in the sector, which were clearly not in the interest of the
government and people of Nigeria.
“And so, she took bold steps and
some of these agreements were reviewed and some were terminated, and these
moves disturbed some entrenched interests in the sector, and within this
period, she began to receive some imminent threats to her life; therefore, the
need for the vehicles.
“It should be noted that these
vehicles are not personal vehicles and were not procured in the name of the
honourable minister; they are utility vehicles and are for the office of the
minister, and if she leaves the office, she will not be taking the vehicles
along with her.”
On his part, the spokesperson
for the NCAA, Mr. Fan Ndubuike, feigned ignorance of the development.
“I am not aware of anything like
that,” he told our correspondent at 8.05pm on Wednesday.
The NCAA is the agency charged
with ensuring the airworthiness of commercial planes flying within the
country’s airspace.
The agency has been under fire
lately over a series of mishaps and near crashes involving planes being
operated by domestic airlines that were certified fit for flight operations by
the NCAA.
There have also been rumours
that the NCAA does not have enough funds to upgrade its equipment, send its
employees for critical training and hire enough qualified hands, while
questions are also being raised by industry watchers on the ability of the
cash-strapped agency to procure such expensive vehicles.
However, the Director-General,
NCAA, Capt. Fola Akinkuotu, had on Monday denied the claims of being
cash-strapped, saying that the agency was buoyant.
He said, “We are not broke, we
have been carrying out all our responsibilities and have been undertaking the
training of our staff as and when due.
“I can tell you that right now,
some of our staff members are undergoing training abroad and we still have others
that are waiting for approval; we do not joke with training here and I
challenge anyone to come up with anything otherwise to that effect.”
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