Aviation minister’s car purchase did not follow due process – BPP

 

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the Minister of Aviation, Ms. Stella Oduah, breached procurement laws in the purchase of two BMW armoured cars, the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) said yesterday.

At the commencement of the House of Representatives’ public hearing on the purchase of the cars, the agency could not provide authorization for the deal.

The minister was not at the hearing as she was away in Israel on an official assignment.

The revelations were made by BPP in its response to the committee’s request for correspondences between it and NCAA on the procurement of the two vehicles.

NCAA was also said to have failed to get the consent of the BPP for the transaction in contravention of procurement laws.

Mr. Ayo Aderibigbe, a Deputy Director in the BPP, said there were no correspondences between the two. “We have nothing to forward to the House on this matter; we also have nothing on details and dates on the procurement process, including a certificate of no objection, on the purchase of the vehicles,

“We also have no other relevant documents that could facilitate the process of the Committees’s investigation in the purchase of the two vehicles,” Aderibigbe said.

The BPP spoke on the procurement of such goods, saying approval must be by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) once it is over N100m and not the Ministerial Tenders Board.

The procurement that was approved by the Minister was also in breach of the law as the cost of the two vehicles at N255,159m can only be approved by the FEC.

The agency was also shown to display total disregard for the law with the purchase of the two armoured cars that were removed from the agency’s budget during its 2013 budget defence/presentation at the House of Representatives.

In addition, the aviation agency also breached the 2013 Appropriation Act by exceeding the budgeted amount of N240m to purchase operational vehicles for N403m.

Similarly, while 25 operational vehicles were appropriated for, the agency went ahead to procure 54 vehicles.

The purchase of 54 vehicles instead of the approved 25 cost the agency N643m that would eventually amount to N1,018b, with the instalmental repayment, according to the term of agreement with the bank.

The Director General of NCAA, Captain Fola Akinkuotu, who was unable to provide information on the Oduah car transaction, said the deal was completed before his assumption of office on August 14.

He also said though he received handing over notes from all the directors of the agency, none mentioned the procurement of the two vehicles and when he asked questions about it, no one offered any explanation.

The then Acting Director General, Mr. Joyce Nkemakolom, during whose tenure between April 14 and August 14 the procurement was made, angered the committee by evading questions.

He could not defend how one unit of the armoured car put at N70m in the memorandum sent to the minister was purchased for N127m.

When he was asked if the procurement of the vehicles was correct and in consonance with the Appropriation Act, he said it was a lease finance facility and not an outright purchase.

Nkemakolom failed to cite the relevant sections of the Act to back his claim, but the BPP said the procurement involved government funds.

He also saw no wrong in overshooting the budget, saying the vehicles were property of First Bank that financed the deal.

“As we speak, the vehicles are still under the control of the financing bank and we were given approval for N240m for the procurement in the 2013 budget and with this procedure, we can never, never flap that ceiling,” Nkemakolom said.

The committee said Nkemakolom was lying on oath with documents that showed how NCAA exceeded the number of vehicles approved in the budget with his signature on the document.

He was also shown another document that confirmed the delivery of the vehicles to the Ikeja office of the agency on August 13, 2013.

The Chairman of the Committee, Nkiruka Onyejeocha, said her Committee’s only interest was Nigeria and that in line with the mandate of the House aimed to find out whether the purchase was correct.

She also said the Committee wanted to find out if the purchase was authorised by any Appropriation law, whether NCAA had been complying with the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) on internally generated revenue and whether any minister is entitled to such vehicles under the law.

The committee adjourned its sitting to Tuesday, asking Oduah, the Chairman of Coscharis Motors and the Managing Director of First Bank to appear before it.

The Committee requested NCAA to come along with details of banks where it has accounts as well as six months statement from the banks.

Read more: The Nation

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