A former Minister of Aviation, Senator
Stella Oduah, has justified the 2013 purchase of two bulletproof BMW
cars by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
She told the Federal High Court in Lagos that the cars were not bought for.....
her personal use.
The court, however, restrained anti-graft agencies from inviting her for questioning concerning the purchase.
The vehicles were said to have cost N255million, an amount that sparked outrage.
Justice Mohammed Yunusa barred the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from arresting Oduah
until her suit is determined.
A copy of the order, made on August 26, was obtained by our correspondent yesterday.
The judge also stopped the Independent
Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), the
Attorney-General of the Federation and the Inspector-General of Police
from inviting the former minister for interrogation.
Oduah, who represents Anambra North in the Senate, said there was a move by the respondents to persecute and humiliate her.
She, however, explained that the
vehicles were bought for the use of International Civil Aviation
Organisation (ICAO) officials, who were in the country to inspect and
certify the 22 airports being rehabilitated under her watch.
According to her, the vehicles were
acquired to safeguard the foreign officials lives so that they would not
be bombed, attacked or abducted by the rampaging Boko Haram insurgents,
who were creating havoc in the Northeast.
Oduah said the bulletproof cars were
especially necessary because the visit of the airport inspectors
coincided with “the peak of Boko Haram terrorists’ menace in the
country, when the United Nations building and the headquarters of the
Nigeria Police Force were bombed in Abuja.”
“It was thus imperative that the NCAA,
which is an apex regulatory authority in the Nigerian aviation industry,
operating under the SARPs of the ICAO and subject to assessment by
ICAO, acquire its own armoured vehicles for the use of the ICAO
officials coming for inspection and certification at the time,” Oduah
said.
She added that the bullet-proof vehicles
were captured in the 2013 budget, adding that they were duly procured
in line with the Bureau of Public Procurement regulations.
The ex-minister said upon her assumption
of office in 2011, she “quickly realised that the quest for direct
foreign investment in Nigeria could not be optimally successful without
world standard airports for international and domestic air travels.”
Because of this, she said, she directed
that the proposal of N9billion made for the rehabilitation of four
airports be made to cover the 22 airports.
She said the respondents would be doing the bidding of her political enemies if they were not stopped.
In the papers she filed before the
court, the former minister said the bid to arrest her for a crime she
did not commit began as the general election approached.
According to her, the House of
Representatives, led by Aminu Tambuwal (now Sokoto State governor), and
its Committee on Aviation, were especially out to get her.
But the lawmakers’ move, she said, was
part of a grand plan by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to capture
power by all means.
The party, she said, carried out a
campaign of calumny by “demonising” the most visible leaders of the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Culled - TheNation
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