Bullet Proof Cars: Between Reps Probe, Public Skepticism And Odua’s Defence By: Uchenna Awom, Abdulsalam Badamasi on October 27, 2013 - 4:06am The outrage that trailed the alleged abuse of public funds on the purchase of the multi- million Naira BMW amoured cars by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA ) has put members of the House of Representatives on the spotlight. Many Nigerians doubt that anything good may come out of the investigations, UCHENNA AWOM and ABDULSALAM BADMASI take a look at the lawmakers probe Minister of Aviation, Ms Stella Odua is in the eye of the storm. She has become the latest issue in the whole lot of unfortunate tangle that may not be divorced from a complicit web of the bizarre and of wit- knit politics. Expectedly, cross sections of Nigerians are calling for head for daring to ride in a car, which cost is quiet enormous and scandalous. The car; which is said to be a bullet proof automobile allegedly bought for her use by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), a parastatal under her ministry cost a mind boggling amount of N255million. She is now caught in the same quagmire like the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Patricia Etteh. Like Etteh, the act in the eye of the Nigeria public is most reprehensible, that she by now suppose to voluntarily resign her position irrespective of what her defence could be. There must not be any pause in the drive to get her pay restitution immediately and of course Odua must as morality demand, bite the dust, no matter the weight of her defence. At the last count, the NCAA is making spirited effort to extricate the authority particularly the Minister from the devious ring. It is indeed a very thorny fight that somehow has failed to assuage or influence public opinion, yet analyst posit that in circumstances like this, it becomes imperative to hear out the other side to avoid the pitfalls of public trial by ambush. That was the fate that befell former Speaker Etteh. She was harassed and pummelled to submission, such that she resigned naively. But at the end, her colleagues came back to tell Nigerians that she was not culpable as charged and apologised even in plenary session, yet the damage was already done. Perhaps, it downed on the Nigerian public that Etteh was simply a victim of high wire politicking. The import was that her fate never advanced the fight against corruption, because it was merely a carefully choreographed plot to achieve a predetermined goal not to help in the arduous fight against corruption in the country. Already, the woman has been queried by the presidency and a three-man panel set up to probe her. She has also responded to the query, but yet she must face the House of Representatives probe panel to that effect. On Thursday the House opened a public inquiry, but was magnanimous top excused Odua for absence as she was said to have travelled out to Israel on official assignment. Nonetheless, the NCAA made a submission in the manifestly rambunctious environment. Its Director of Aerodrome Management, Mr. Joyce Nkemakolam made submissions that strongly suggest that the purchase of the bullet-proof cars was transaction in progress. He told the panel that the procurement of the operational vehicles was provided for in NCAA 2013 budget on line 6, page 10 and is line with NCAA condition of service. Of particular interest, was his submission that the payments for the vehicles is in 36 equal monthly instalment out of which only two has been paid as at October 21, 2013. The payment monthly he said is put at N23,249,181.00 (the Toyota and Armoured Vehicles inclusive), which will amount to N116,245,905.00 by the end of the year. “This total is below the appropriation for the year”, he said. Nkemakolam further disclosed that the procurement is tripartite transaction between NCAA, First Bank Nigeria and the suppliers. He said as at date, ownership, title document and spare keys of the vehicles are with First Bank of Nigeria and would only be transferred to NCAA after final payment. The explanations notwithstanding, Nkemakolam shed light on the approval processes before procurement. Giving a rundown of the timeline, the Director claimed that with regard to the procurement of additional operational vehicles including 2nos BMW Security Vehicles, the following due process was followed; “On the 5th of April, 2013 the need for additional operational vehicles was identified, on the 15th of April, 2013 an official letter was written to the Federal Ministry of Aviation requesting for approval to procure the vehicles; on the 25th of April, 2013 Federal Ministry of Aviation conveyed approval for the acquisition of the operational vehicles through lease financing. On the strength of the approval according to him the lists of all banks in Nigeria was obtained and were circulated with a request for expression of interest on the financing of the lease. The adoption of the procedure he told the lawmakers was in line with procurement best practices. Accordingly, the evaluation of the expression of interest he said was held on May 31, 2013 during which the First Bank PLC, Union Bank PLC and Stanbic IBTC emerged responsive. “The above three banks were invited to submit financial proposals. Thereafter; First Bank emerged the highest rated responsive bidder”. On the reasons for the purchase, Nkemakolam explained that as a result of the inadequacy and unreliability of NCAA existing operational vehicles due to old age and depreciation made it necessary to acquire additional ones. “Furthermore, the appointment of a new Director General, Directors, General Managers and other Management Staff there was the need for additional vehicles. Moreover, the fact that NCAA, as the regulator of the industry, often plays host to dignitaries from ICAO, IATA, US FAA, AFRAA, AFCAC, BAG, CANSO, ACI and a host of others made it imperative to have various specifications of operational vehicles”, he added. The submission looks as if the NCAA is solely responsible for the procurement, though with a tacit approval by the Ministry of Aviation. However, observers are worried that the purchase was not necessary, particularly now that the air safety is still suspect and very precarious. The embattled Minister of Aviation, Odua and her kitchen staff seems to have since learned the hard way. So regardless of the explanations, Nigerians believe that the country is not woodland where highly placed officials will experiment flamboyant antics with their monies, money that hasn’t worked for them in a very long while. Ironically, in the eye of the storm, and more interestingly is the House of Representatives that is seen to be traditionally akin to be at odds with the executive since 2011. They have followed suit with yet another determination to probe, perhaps to muster the will to impress the Nigerian people. Unfortunately, discontent and doubt is already careering from all corners of the polity as to the extent and sincerity of the Honourable members, or rather the political or human will to bring out a fresh can of worms on this matter that many Nigerians do not intend to wish away anytime soon. The truth is that the House is expected to put their acts together and avoid playing to the gallery or show open bias and disdain to individuals they may not necessarily like their face. Doing that observers posits could cast doubt on their sincerity or otherwise in the probe. First to voice out the scepticism was the coordinator of the Young Patriots group, Comrade Echezona Asuzu who described the call for probe by the Reps as mere “routine rituals” designed to have a dead end. His consternation and expression of serious doubt on the conduct of the reps on this issue is rooted in what is perceived as the alleged compromising stance of the Chairperson of the House Aviation Committee Honourable Nkiruka Onyejiocha. Honourable Onyejiocha has already been criticized by a section of public observers for not carrying out the routine oversight functions of the aviation ministry well, considering the resources it gulps from the nation’s treasury and still unable to keep Nigeria’s airspace safe, even to the barest minimum standards of safety. A group of young civil society, Youth Advocacy for Civic Transformation, Y- ACT had described her performance in that regard as dismal and lacks credibility and the needed credibility to sanitize the aviation sector. “We are yet to see or hear of any report by the House Aviation committee on many issues bedeviling the aviation sector. Does it have to take the media to always bring into the fore such crass disregard for the Nigerian people, when plane crashes have become normal news? The other day a newspaper reported that the ministry has stopped an international carrier plane from flying into the Northern hinterland for obscure reasons. We elected them not the newspapers!” he lamented. However, this may not be a far cry as public records are bereft of such efforts at least recently by the representatives. Hon. Olajumoke Okoya Thomas (APC, Lagos) shed more light on why the House of Representatives mandated the Aviation Committee to within one week report to the House its findings on conduct of the Aviation Ministry regarding the controversial blockade of the Qatari Airlines and the purchase of the two BMW cars for N225 million, which arose from two motions moved separately by Minority Whip Samson Osagie (APC, Edo) and Aliyu Sani Madaki (PDP, Kano), and to establish whether it is correct that the purchase was made; authorised by any appropriation law and whether NCAA has been complying with Federal Revenue Allocation (FRA) on Internally Generated Revenue (IGR). Hon. Okoya-Thomas said the House, as a matter of principle, mandated the Aviation Committee since it is a standing committee that oversees the Aviation Ministry and its parastatals. Hence it is not out of the ordinary to mandate the committee to carry out such investigations. “Our Aviation committee is saddled with the responsibility of oversight of the Aviation Ministry, hence we recognise its mandate in ensuring the conduct of the investigation, adding, the Lagos rep said “as you can see we have given the committee a week to report back with its findings within one week due to the importance we have attached to the matter”. On whether the committee has the credibility or wherewithal to conduct such investigations given the fears of Nigerians that the committee chairperson has allegedly been compromised by the aviation ministry in what seems as the too cordial relationship with the minister, Okoya-Thomas opined that the findings of the committee and its report is not the final stage of the intervention as the report like all other reports presented by various committees of the House will be subjected to scrutiny by the members in the committee of the whole. “When they conclude the investigations and compile the reports we will make recommendations where there is need and review it appropriately,” she said. There are doubts both ways; one is the disposition of the House to carry out investigation devoid of political brinkmanship and to carry out its statutory functions in line with the rules not minding the pressure of public opinion. The difference between pandering to public opinion analyst observe is the moral will to weigh both sides of the submission to be able to arrive at an acceptable conclusion. The aim should be to go down deep in the monitoring of the country’s commonwealth are utilised to the benefit of all.
Posted on: Sun, 27 Oct 2013 04:23:32 +0000
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