Nigeria's most consistent human
right activist alive, Mr Femi
Falana (SAN), has given the
EFCC 13 grounds to prosecute
the Minister of Aviation, Stella
Oduah, and “her agents” for
gross misconduct in the
purchase of two armoured cars
at a "staggering" N255m.
In a letter dated November 2,
2013, to EFCC chairman, Ibrahim
Lamorde, Falana gave the
commission up till November 8
to make available the
investigation report on the
matter.
He said facts and
circumstances of the “illegal
transaction” had
established, among others,
that “there was no
appropriation for the sum of
N255m for the acquisition
of armoured cars in the
Appropriation Act, 2013.”
elying on the Court of Appeal’s
decision in the case of Dogogo
v EFCC (2013), the lawyer
threatened to sue the EFCC if it
failed to carry out its “statutory
duty”.
He accused the House of Reps
committee before whom Oduah
appeared on October 31, of
deliberately not asking her the
relevant questions on the
“criminal enterprise”.
He also said the minister
“exceeded her approval limit as
only the Federal Executive
Council can approve any
transaction of N100m and
above; and the transaction did
not comply with any of the
provisions of the Public
Procurement Act.”
Other grounds canvassed by
Falana include, “The prices of the
two cars were inflated by the
auto company in connivance
with the aviation minister and
the management of the NCAA.
“The loan of N643 million
sourced from the First Bank Plc
for the purchase of operational
vehicles for the NCAA was not
approved by the National
Assembly.
“The repayment of the loan in 36
months by the NCAA is
tantamount to contract splitting
in contravention of the Financial
Guidelines of the Federal
Government.
“That the Aviation Minister
admitted her involvement in the
extra budgetary purchase of the
cars when she gave illegal
approval before directing the
NCAA officials to “do the
needful”!
“The Media Assistant to the
Aviation Minister who claimed
that the armoured cars were
purchased for the “safety” of his
boss has not denied the official
statement.
“The Ministry of Aviation
conspired with the auto
company to evade the payment
of appropriate duties on the
armoured cars to the coffers of
the Federal Governmen as they
obtained duty waiver by false
pretences from the Federal
Ministry of Finance.
“The First Bank Plc entered into
an illegal loan agreement with
the NCAA to finance the illegal
transaction from the internally
generated revenue of the NCAA.
Under the law loans can only be
approved by the legislative arm
of government fo fund capital
projects and not for the
purchase of cars.
He therefore asked the anti-graft
agency to hasten to try the
minister and her agents “for
gross economic and financial
crimes as they wilfully violated
the relevant provisions of the
Constitution, the Public
Procurement Act as well as the
relevant Circulars and Financial
Guidelines of the Federal
Government.”
He threatened to apply for an
order of mandamus to compel
EFCC “to carry out your statutory
duty” if it failed to acceded to
his request.
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