Minister Oduah’s presidential leeway

Aliyu Musa

Nigerians could be set for another jolly ride to nowhere as President Goodluck Jonathan set up an administrative panel to investigate Aviation Minister Stella Oduah’s scandalous purchase of two BMW bulletproof cars at the monstrous cost of 255 million naira.

Since the start of the controversy over the minister’s armoured cars – clearly overpriced souvenirs from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) – Ms Oduah has made determined efforts to save her job and head. But she does not need to do too much to weather the storm.

Reasons are she is a member of the country’s class of ‘sacred lambs’ and a serving official in a regime whose fight against corruption amounts to no more than paying lip service. Hence, the resort to an administrative panel whose decisions might never be conclusive or might end up giving her a clean bill of health. The panel’s terms of reference, which the president’s spokesperson Reuben Abati has kindly made public, show that attempts would only be made at finding out whether the cars were procured through some ambiguous ‘due process’, the purpose for which the vehicles were purchased and ‘inquire into any other incidental matter’.

This, doubtless, suggests a plan to leave the main issue and chase trivialities, which Ms Oduah is aware of and has pre-empted by directly writing the president to address the main issues the panel is expected to investigate. For example she has argued that the purchase followed due process and was adequately provided for in the NCAA 2013 budget, citing a letter NCAA wrote her ministry asking for authorization to procure 56 operational vehicles through lease financing.

She also explained that because NCAA regularly hosts foreign dignitaries from the US Federation of Airport Administration (USFAA), International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), International Air Transport Association (IATA), etc. there was an urgent need to buy new specialized operational vehicles and replace obsolete ones. These explanations would certainly satisfy the president’s curiosity (if he was in the first place) and, but for the money to be squandered and had, render the panel’s job completely unnecessary.

But the entire scandal, the government’s handling of it and Stella Oduah’s response indicate the typical nonchalance of public officers in Nigeria to accountability. Ms Oduah, as the country’s Aviation minister, should have known that purchasing vehicles at such an outrageous cost was not a priority given the state of our airports, our inability to own a functional airline since the collapse of the Nigeria Airways and surpluses of obsolete passenger aircraft in the country.

Since the Dana Air disaster and claims of negligence on the part of the airline and subsequent air crashes, all of which happened under Ms Oduah’s nose, nothing has practically been done to either penalize airlines or compel them to operate within the realm of safety standards applied in normal societies. This has made Nigeria’s domestic air travel much riskier than international travel. If there was anything so obsolete and urgently needing a replacement it’s those planes that were lengthily grounded in other countries but purchased, flown to and used to commit mass murder in the country.

But, perhaps, because the lives of Nigerians going about their businesses do not matter to Nigeria’s corrupt officials Ms Oduah spends an unimaginable amount beefing up her own security and replacing so-called obsolete equipment to make her and her friend’s lives better.

Rather than insulting Nigerians further by setting up a panel to further waste money and time, Mr President, if he is serious about tackling corruption in the country, should have referred Ms Oduah to the EFCC for proper investigation and due prosecution if sufficient evidence was found. But even the EFCC has been turned into an executive adjunct that is unable to act without being vetted.

From day one President Jonathan came across as a cautious president who would rather create a leeway for favoured erring officials than expose them to any form of legal scrutiny and penalty. The stories of ex fugitives Diepreye Solomon Peter Alamieyeseigha (the president’s former boss) and Bode George are credible evidence of the president’s unwillingness or inability to fight corruption.

I would be the last person to be surprised by a decision to let Minister Stella Oduah off without a single charge. It has been well scripted and the acting has only begun. As usual we are the spectators – the real losers. She would keep her job and armored cars, all paid for by us, while we continue to ride in flying coffins.

Postscript:

This piece was also published in the Blueprint newspaper of 25/10/2013.