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The Senate on Tuesday lamented that officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation failed to honour its invitation to give account of how they managed the  N32.00 removed as subsidy on each of the litre of petrol sold in the country between January 2012 and September 2013

Members of the  Senate Ad-hoc Committee on the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme raised the alarm while addressing journalists, two hours after officials of the NNPC and the Central Bank of Nigeria failed to honour an appointment with them.

A member of the committee, Senator Kabiru Mararaba, alleged that his colleagues observed that over  N800bn ought to have accrued to the nation for the SURE – P projects if N32.00 was removed from each of the 25 billion  litres of fuel sold in 21 months.

He said the figure was contained in a letter from the Ministry of Petroleum Resources to the committee dated October 9 this year, and signed by its Director of Finance and Accounts,  Mr. Salmanu Faskari.

He said, “The committee had earlier written the NNPC to ascertain the quantity of fuel sold from when the Subsidy programme started till date. NNPC gave us the quantity sold from January 2012 and September 2013, covering 21 months.

“If you add everything together, it will amount to about 25 billion litres and if you multiply 25 billion litre by N32.00, you get about N800bn. What SURE – P coordinators told us, when they appeared before us, was that they had so far  collected about N300bn since the subsidy regime started.

“The SURE – P team led by Mr. Christopher Kolade,  said they were receiving N15bn flat rate every month. If you multiply 21 months by N15bn, it will be about N350bn. What we are even asking is what happened to the over N500bn difference. That is what we ask the NNPC to come and tell us.

“We were also disappointed that the CBN was not here because they are the custodian of the fund. They should come account for how they came about the N15bn they were remitting every month when it was not the same quantity of fuel they sell every month.

“The figure cannot be a flat rate. Based on the figure which the ministry supplied, in January this year, the nation consumed about 1.3bn litre of petrol but it had dropped to 770, 695, 645 in September 2013.”

Source: Punch Nigeria

A Senate committee holding hearings into the aviation sector in Nigeria today shockingly heard   how the Aviation Minister Stella Oduah spent $1.6 million on the purchase of two armored cars today, also the committee received further confirmation that the minister received several other cars from another agency under her control.

Continue after the break.

George Uresi, the chief executive officer of the Federal Aviation Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), admitted before the Senate’s aviation committee, led by Hope Uzodinma, that FAAN bought four bullet proof cars for Ms. Oduah at N70 million each. SaharaReporters, which broke the news of how the minister forced the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to buy her two bullet-proof BMWs at the inflated cost of $800,000 each, had also subsequently reported that other agencies under Ms. Oduah had also bought her extremely expensive, overpriced cars.

Mr. Uresi’s testimony today confirmed our earlier reports that the minister hauled in at least six armored cars from a variety of aviation agencies.

Our correspondent reported that Mr. Uresi, the CEO of FAAN, sweated profusely as he told Senator Uzodinma’s committee that FAAN bought four bullet-proof cars for Ms. Oduah. “He was sweating bullets even though the committee room was heavily air-conditioned,” said our citizen reporter.

The FAAN boss’s testimony revealed that the transaction resembled how the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) bought two BMW armored cars for the minister at inflated price.

According to Mr. Uresi, FAAN bought two armored Lexus limousine cars and two Prado armored sports utility vehicles (SUVs) for Ms. Oduah.

Contacted later this evening, a member of the Senate’s aviation committee told SaharaReporters that he had heard rumors that the leadership of the committee was looking for ways to cover up Ms. Oduah’s car-buying scandal. “Some of us will not allow anybody to cover up anything,” said the senator.

Senator Uzodinma gave Mr. Uresi till Monday to provide the paperwork for the purchase of the four cars his agency procured for the minister’s use.

Meanwhile, a source who works at FAAN told SaharaReporters that the deal for the purchase of the cars was done through a company linked to Ms. Oduah. “The finance department of FAAN was not in the know of the purchase as the deal was done at the minister’s office with Uresi signing off on the deal.”

Although Mr. Uresi admitted to the purchase, he refused to provide the Senate committee members with details of how the deal was finalized with a bank. He also refused to disclose if Coscharis Motors Limited was involved in the latest scandal. Coscharis Motors, which is owned by Cosmas Maduka, was involved in the shady deal for the supply of the two BMWs paid for by the NCAA for the personal use of the minister. SaharaReporters reported earlier that Ms. Oduah received more than N100 million as kickback after she arm-twisted NCAA officials to sign papers certifying delivery of the two cars. No officials of the agency ever saw the vehicles before signing the delivery documents. 

SaharaReporters had also reported that another agency, National Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), also bought four Toyota Tundras for the minister. After our revelation, NAMA authorities went on a desperate search for companies to claim ownership of four limousines parked at the aviation agency’s TRACON site in Abuja. Today, the Senate asked NAMA officials to bring over the supposed owners of the vehicles along with proof of their ownership.

In the end, NAMA claimed that the vehicles belong to a local airline, Overland Airways. But in a clear indication of fishiness, some other company had called SaharaReporters to claim ownership of the limousines. 

Ms. Oduah is expected to appear before the House of Representative tomorrow (Wednesday) to answer questions on the scandal of the $1.6 million she squandered on the purchase of two armored BMW cars.

In the wake of our revelations of the minister’s car-buying spree, she traveled to Israel as part of President Goodluck Jonathan’s official delegation to religious sites in that country.  Mrs. Oduah returned to Nigeria on Monday night  a few minutes after she attended a ceremony where a Bilateral Services Agreement was signed with Israel.
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