Lagos lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), has given the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission 13 grounds of why the Minister of Aviation, Ms Stella Oduah, and “her agents” should be prosecuted for gross misconduct in the purchase of two amoured cars.
In his letter dated November 2 to the EFCC Chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, Falana also gave the commission up till November 8 to make available to him the investigation report on the matter.
Relying on the Court of Appeal’s decision in the case of Dogogo v EFCC (2013), the lawyer threatened to sue the EFCC if it failed to carry out its “statutory duty”.
He accused the House of Representatives committee, before whom Oduah appeared on October 31, of deliberately not asking her the relevant questions on the “criminal enterprise”.
But he said facts and circumstances of the “illegal transaction”, had established, among others, that “there was no appropriation for the sum of N255m for the acquisition of armoured cars in the Appropriation Act, 2013.”
He also said the minister “exceeded her approval limit as only the Federal Executive Council can approve any transaction of N100m and above; and the transaction did not comply with any of the provisions of the Public Procurement Act.”
Other grounds canvassed by Falana are, “The prices of the two cars were inflated by the auto company in connivance with the Aviation Minister and the management of the NCAA.“The loan of N643 million sourced from the First Bank Plc for the purchase of operational vehicles for the NCAA was not approved by the National Assembly.
“The repayment of the loan in 36 months by the NCAA is tantamount to contract splitting in contravention of the Financial Guidelines of the Federal Government.
“That the Aviation Minister admitted her involvement in the extra budgetary purchase of the cars when she gave illegal approval before directing the NCAA officials to “do the needful”!
Punch
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