Oduah to appear before Senate tomorrow

Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah, at the hearing on the N255m purchased armoured cars for the minister at National Assembly in Abuja today.

The troubles of the embattled Minister of Aviation, Ms Stella Oduah, aren’t over yet as indications   emerged on Monday  that she might also  appear before the Senate plenary  on Wednesday   to explain her roles in the October 3, 2013 Associated Airlines plane crash in Lagos.

She will also take questions from Senators on the controversial N255m bulletproof car scandal involving her and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority.

An indication of this emerged shortly after the Senate Committee on Aviation postponed indefinitely, a public sitting where officials of the NCAA  were already  seated on Monday, ready  to answer questions on the  controversial cars.

A committee  source  said in confidence that  the panel  Chairman, Senator Hope Uzodinma, told the NCAA team  that the hearing  had been called off to enable members of the panel  to prepare for Oduah’s appearance.

He said, “We postponed indefinitely,  the public sitting with the NCAA officials  to enable us to prepare very well for the appearance of their minister  before the Senate plenary on Wednesday.”

Oduah  had appeared before the House of Representatives’ committee on Thursday last week but denied  that the cars were bought for her. She claimed that the NCAA bought them for its operations.

A   23-year-old Associated Airlines  plane   carrying the  remains of a former Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Agagu, had  crashed barely a minute after it took off from the domestic wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Ikeja, Lagos.

No fewer than 15 people, including Ondo State Commissisoner for Culture and Tourism, Deji  Falae, died in the accident.

It was  further learnt that the session might be a live telecast by one or two television stations.

A melodrama however   played out  in the House of Representatives  when  the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, testified before the House   committee on aviation on Monday.

The committee is investigating the purchase of  the   bulletproof  cars by the NCAA.

Okonjo-Iweala testified  on the nature of duty exemption she granted for the purchase of vehicles for the “EKO 2012 Games” hosted   by the Lagos State Government.

 Coscharis Motors, which imported the bulletproof cars, had claimed that it got a waiver from the Ministry of Finance.

However, the Nigeria Customs Service later lifted the lid on the issue, by explaining that the waiver was used as a cover to import the bulletproof cars.

It said the waiver was for  300 vehicles imported for the games.

The panel, which is headed by Mrs. Nkiruka Onyejeocha, had summoned the Finance minister  to clarify the waiver granted to Coscharis.

The minister had kept the committee waiting for three hours before she arrived the venue at about 1.50pm.

She went straight to Onyejeocha and they whispered to each other for a few seconds.

When  she  took a seat to address the committee, Onyejeocha made excuses for her.

The committee chairman said that Okonjo-Iweala would only spend a few minutes as she would be attending another meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan and the leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities at 2pm.

She also tried to limit the number of questions Okonjo-Iweala would answer to three.

This development caused a crack among members of the committee  as some of them protested over the limit   placed on questions.

For nearly five minutes, an argument ensued over how to hear the minister.

Onyejeocha, who read a scripted introductory remarks, also raced  through the text in a stammered tone.

Okonjo-Iweala continuously shook her head as she watched the drama unfolding before her.

 When there was some calm, she addressed the committee, denying that she granted a waiver for the importation of the bulletproof cars.

 According to her, on June 23,2012, the Lagos State Government applied for waivers for “300 assorted vehicles” in favour of Coscharis Motors for the  games.

She explained that because the request met the conditions for granting duty exemptions, it was approved.

However, she noted that there were no bulletproof cars on the list.

The minister said, “What I know is that on the list, there was no mention of bulletproof cars.

 “So, no waiver was granted for those (bulletproof) cars.”

 She  explained that the waiver (for Eko Games) could be granted under the ECOWAS Common External Tariff, which Nigeria was a signatory to.

 The committee observed that the value of the 300 cars should have been between $18m and $19m but that her office put the cost at $14m.

 Lawmakers argued that this calculation could have drastically affected the amount  payable on the vehicles if duty was to be paid.

 In response, the minister said the revenue department of the ministry usually calculated the duty payable on such imports.

She said the department did the calculation and ascertained  the value of the cars correctly.

 When asked to confirm whether the transaction passed a due process test, she referred the committee to “appropriate procurement laws, where there are provisions to answer your question.”

Attempts to ask further questions were subsequently blocked by Onyejeocha.

 She said that the minister was invited to speak on waivers only and having done so, she should be allowed to go.