N255m car scandal: Sack Oduah now, House of Reps tells Jonathan

The House of Representatives on Thursday agreed that the Minister of Aviation, Ms. Stella Oduah, breached the 2013 Appropriation Act.

It therefore asked Jonathan to review her appointment for approving expenditure of over N643m for the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority to procure 54 vehicles this year.

The spokesman for the House, Mr. Zakari Mohammed, when contacted, explained that the lawmakers wanted the minister sacked.

He said, “The review here means a change in status. It is a mild way of saying that Mr. President should sack the minister.”

The House noted that her approval limit as a minister was N100m.

It  added that in the process, the agency purchased two bulletproof BMW cars at the cost of N255m without the approval of the National Assembly.

The House  took the decision at Thursday’s plenary after  endorsing  the report of its  Committee on Aviation, which investigated the purchase of the bulletproof cars.

A major recommendation of the committee, which was adopted, reads, “The House urges  the President to review the continued engagement of the Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah, for having contravened the Appropriation Act, 2013 and the approved, revised threseholds by exceeding the Ministry of Aviation’s approval limit of N100m by the purchase of 54 vehicles valued at N643m.”

The House further directed the ministry   and the NCAA  to  terminate all the transactions relating to the bulletproof cars because they “were neither provided for in the Appropriation Act, 2013, nor was due process followed in their procurement.”

Source; Punch