would, for once, punish violators of federal
budget and procurement laws, then aviation
ministry officials involved in a scandalous
purchase of two armour-plated BMW vehicles
at an inflated cost of N225 million, would
be facing charges leading from three to 10
years in jail.
PREMIUM TIMES can authoritatively report
today that the multimillion contract that
has sparked anger across the country was
never listed or approved in any government
budget as required by law, neither was it
openly advertised or bided for.
The contract was not listed in the budget by
the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA,
the agency compelled by the minister to make
the purchase; and was not listed by the
Federal Airport Authority, FAAN or Nigerian
Airspace Management Agency, NAMA.
The ministry's own budget too, had no plan
to purchase any car for the minister, or
other officials.
Spending public funds on unbudgeted projects
attracts three years in jail and a fine of
N100, 000 the Corrupt Practices and Other
Related Offences law stipulates.
Also, contracts involving public funds
without due procurement processes- basically
open advertising and bidding- draws a
minimum of five years, and a maximum of 10
years in jail, the Public Procurement law
says.
A spokesperson for the Independent Corrupt
Practices and Related Offences Commission,
Folu Olamiti, said the anti-graft body would
make its position on the matter known later.
A representative for the Bureau of Public
Procurement, said the "law was clear" on
this case. He did not want to be named
because he was not authorized to speak.
After its initial denial of a contract that
has shocked a nation with majority of its
population poor, the ministry of aviation,
on Sunday, admitted that two reinforced BMW
sedans had been purchased for Mrs Oduah at
the total cost of N255 million, a sum enough
to deliver at least five of such cars.
Joe Obi, Special Assistant on Media to the
Minister, said the cars were to protect Mrs
Oduah from "imminent threats" bred by the
minister's purported radical reforms in the
aviation industry, the Punch newspaper
reported.
"When she came on board as the minister, she
inherited a lot of baggage in terms of
concession and lease agreements in the
sector, which were clearly not in the
interest of the government and people of
Nigeria," Mr Obi said.
"And so, she took bold steps and some of
these agreements were reviewed and some were
terminated, and these moves disturbed some
entrenched interests in the sector, and
within this period, she began to receive
imminent threats to her life; therefore, the
need for the vehicles."
Mr. Obi did not elaborate on the processes
leading to the procurement of the cars,
whether it followed due process or not; or
why the minister chose to mandate an agency
under her supervision to deliver the cars,
or still, why the contract was directly
awarded to Coscharis Motors-the company that
supplied the cars- in breach of government
procurement laws.
But PREMIUM TIMES has confirmed that the
agency's budget, which is not usually open
to the National Assembly for appropriation,
had no provision for a car, or more, for the
minister.
This paper has also established why the
aviation minister, Mrs Oduah, possibly opted
for the NCAA, out of the six offices under
her regulation, to bankroll the exotic
vehicles.
NCAA's secrecy Of the six offices under the ministry, NCAA is the only fully self-sustaining organization with no kobo provided by the government for its operation.
All the funds used by NCAA are internally-
generated, from charges on airlines,
passengers and fines etc, as stipulated by
the Civil Aviation law, setting it up. The
FAAN and NAMA, are also as revenue
generating agencies.
Government agencies under such arrangement,
illegally spend their revenues without the
approval of the National Assembly, and
usually refuse to disclose their budgets.
Although believed to be in hundreds, offices
officially listed by the government in the
Fiscal Responsibility Act as revenue-
generating total 31.
They include big spenders such as Central Bank of Nigeria,CBN, and the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC.
With the title, comes a somewhat self-
imposed privilege of maintaining secret
budgets, in the belief that since they
source their own funding, they should not be
appropriated for.
That claim has irked Senators and House of
Representatives members for years, and the
lawmakers have repeatedly threatened not to
pass federal budget until the 31 agencies
make open their spending proposals yearly.
The legislators accuse the agencies of
violating the constitution and the Fiscal
Responsibility Act, which makes it mandatory
for all spending be approved by the National
Assembly.
The two arms of the National Assembly are
currently pushing amendments to compel the
31 agencies to make their budgets public.
It is the secrecy that has predictably
helped NCAA and others spend freely with
little or no oversight, lawmakers say,
making the NCAA the likely choice for the
controversial and unapproved car purchase
contract.
Between 2009 and 2012, the agency raised
N35.3 billion, and spent all of that on its
internal needs, according to the National
Assembly Budget and Research Office.
The research office predicted that NCAA will
raise N10.6 billion in 2013, and if allowed,
will fritter all on operational cost.
The cars purchased for the minister came
from the 2013 revenue.
Source: premium news
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