ODUAH-GATE: We can’t release the bullet- proof BMW cars without President’s consent – Minister

The Supervising Minister of Aviation, Dr. Samuel Ortom, stated on Tuesday that the two bullet-proof BMW cars, allegedly bought for his predecessor, Mrs. Stella Oduah, can not be returned to Coscharis Motors without the consent of President Goodluck Jonathan. The Vehicles were purchased from Coscharis Motors at a controversial sum of N255m by the Nigerian Civil Avaiation for the security of Oduah, the immediate-past minister in charge of the ministry. The former minister has since appeared before the House Committee on Aviation, which probed the transaction, to deny that the cars were bought for her, Punch reports. Ortom said, “Before we comply, we have to carry Mr. President along and every other stakeholder. We can’t just carry the bullet-proof cars and dump them at Coscharis; we have to follow the due process. “There are documents to be filled; there are processes to follow. As soon as we complete the arrangements, we will take the cars back.” Ortom gave the position of the ministry as he spoke with journalists, shortly after he met with the House Committee at the National Assembly. The committee, which was chaired by Mrs. Nkiruka Onyejeocha, had recommended in its report that the vehicles should be returned to Coscharis Motors. The company was also directed to refund the full cost of the cars. But, during a recent oversight tour of some aviation agencies, the Onyejeocha committee discovered that the vehicles were still parked at the Abuja premises of the NCAA. The committee directed again that the cars must be returned, in compliance with its report, already adopted by the House. The committee gave the ministry two weeks to submit documents on the compliance status and to respond to several other inquiries, including the N174.7bn debt owed by aviation agencies. The documents were also to cover the $500m loan said to have been obtained from Chinese partners for the development of the aviation industry. But, at a meeting with Ortom and officials of some of the agencies on Tuesday, Onyejeocha observed that one month after the directive was given, no document had been submitted to the committee. Onyejeocha noted that, while the committee appreciated the fact that Ortom was a supervising minister, it was still his responsibility to ensure that all the information sought were provided. “We don’t have documents from you or any of the parastatals. We can’t make meaningful progress if those documents are not available,” she added. She said the committee sought for detailed information on the airport modernisation projects of the ministry. “For example, we found out that the contracts in Abuja did not follow the due process. “In Lagos, the tiles used at the protocol lounge were of poor quality, among others. “We don’t have the designs of the project; it is impossible to oversight a project when you don’t have the design,” she stated. Though, Ortom appealed for more time to produce the documents, he expressed displeasure over “the wrong impression” created about the N174.7bn debt. Ortom said it was the ministry that conducted an inquiry into the debt status and not the National Assembly, as reported by some media outfits. “When we came in, we wanted to know our total commitment. That was how a committee we set up and came out with this figure. It came to us as a surprise when there were reports that the National Assembly uncovered N174.7bn fraud in the aviation sector,” he added. The committee later adjourned the meeting by one week to give the ministry time to produce the documents.