N255m Car Scandal – The two bulletproof cars were not for me: Oduah (Min Finance)

Yesterday the Minister of Finance, Stella Oduah appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation in respect of the said N255m booletproof scandal. She denied her alleged complicity in the transaction.

Thisday Newspaper report:

Oduah whose inability to appear before now had generated tension, told the investigating panel that she neither requested the NCAA to purchase the controversial cars nor were they registered in her name.

She acknowledged that the media has been awash with the purported spending of $1.6 million (N255m) by the NCAA for the purchase of the vehicles but said such reports were untrue and were designed to smear her reputation and scuttle ongoing reforms in the aviation sector.

She spoke just as the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) clarified the alleged waivers issued for the importation of the bulletproof cars.

As Oduah was striving to clear her name in the car purchase scandal, an online medium, Sahara Reporters, yesterday reported that the minister pressurised the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to borrow a huge amount from a commercial bank to buy her two bulletproof cars.

The Senate Committee on Aviation had on Wednesday vowed to get to the root of the purchase of two bulletproof Lexus car, at a cost of N60 million each, while the cost of the remaining two Toyota Prado armoured sport utility vehicles was yet to be disclosed.

However, giving her side of the story yesterday while appearing before the House committee, the minister denied culpability in the car purchase transaction by NCAA.
She said: “Let me state emphatically from the outset that the allegation concerning the purchase of two bulletproof cars for me by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) is false in its entirety. 

“It is not true that the NCAA has spent such amounts of money on the purchase of vehicles. It is also not true that the NCAA has purchased two bulletproof BMW vehicles for the Honourable Minister of Aviation.

“My understanding is that what the NCAA has done, is to plan for the acquisition of vehicles for the next three years within the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) through a lease financing arrangement with First Bank Nigeria Limited (FBN).

“Under this arrangement, NCAA would have paid N100 million by the end of fiscal year 2013. The sum is below the appropriated amount of N240 million and less than what is required for Federal Executive Council's approval.

“It would appear that what the NCAA has done within the framework of the MTEF and its desire to be prudent, is to plan its budget in a manner that the cash flow of the authority is able to accommodate spending.”

She defended NCAA's decision to procure the vehicles, a need which she anchored on the strategic role of the agency in the aviation industry and the fact that it plays host to important dignitaries from the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and other regulatory institutions. 

“Perhaps, these are the factors that the NCAA considered in planning for the acquisition of the different specifications of vehicles through a lease financing arrangement.

“It is customary and obligatory that we ensure the security and safe passage of all our international guests, when they visit.

“In aviation, as well as other security measures, requires proactive and preventive measures. The NCAA acted with the highest patriotic consideration within the ambit of the law and the constitution,” Oduah said.

The minister blamed those she said had “entrenched interests” in the aviation sector for her plight, stating that contrary to the report that the NCAA had spent N255 million for the purchase of the vehicles, the agency, by the end 2013 would have spent N116 million for the acquisition of the vehicles.

This figure, she added, was below the N240 million the National Assembly appropriated in the 2013 budget for vehicles’ procurement. 

On the allegation that the two bulletproof cars were bought for her, the minister said: “There was nothing in the approved documents reflecting my name, when the budget was being made. At no time did I ever request for any vehicle from the NCAA.

“It was the agency that had the need and made the request to the Federal Ministry of Aviation. After the purchase under a three-year lease financing agreement, the vehicles were never delivered to me. The vehicles were also not registered in my name but in the name of the agency.”

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