N255m Armoured Cars: APC hails House of Reps, asks Jonathan to sack Minister Oduah

APC asks Jonathan to act right

The All Progressives Congress, APC has commended the House of Representatives for taking a definitive stand on the N255 million aviation scandal by asking President Goodluck Jonathan to sack the Minister of Aviation Stella Oduah following her role in the scam.

In a statement issued in Port Harcourt on Monday by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, the party said by its action, the House of Representatives has again signalled its readiness to play its own part in fighting the massive corruption which has enveloped the country

It also said by its unequivocal stand on the scandal, coming on the heels of the recent criticism of President Jonathan’s tepid fight against corruption by Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal, the House left no one in doubt that the legislature was taking its oversight role very seriously.

“There is no doubt that the House of Representatives took its stand, which included asking the EFCC to investigate and prosecute all those

involved in the scandal, after a painstaking work by its Committee on Aviation. This action is commendable and reflects the general opinion

of Nigerians on the shameful scandal,” the statement said.

APC said Ms. Oduah had no basis for continuing to occupy her post as Minister of Aviation and should step down immediately.

It said if the Minister failed to resign, Mr. Jonathan should fire her. It added that if the Minister fail to resign and the President fail to fire her, it would confirm the general perception across the country that the President was not ready or willing to fight corruption, and that he is comfortable in the company of corrupt officials and would rather cream off the proceeds of corruption by taking contributions to his war chest from corrupt folks.

The party said failure by the President to heed the House of Representatives on the Oduahgate would also add to his earlier failure to act on the House’s decision on the massive oil subsidy scam, and the failure of Mr. Jonathan’s administration to bring to justice all those behind the series of corruption cases dogging the administration.

“The list is long, and includes the pension scam, the Malabu scandal, the massive corruption in SEC, the Halliburton scandal, the unprecedented crude oil theft and the extensive corruption in the oil sector. The President’s decision to hug corruption rather than to fight it has also been reflected in his comments, saying for example that the perception people have about corruption in Nigeria is exaggerated; and that his administration is ‘winning’ the war against corruption.”

The APC said the overly simplistic take on corruption in Nigeria by Mr. Jonathan flew in the face of the available evidence that Nigeria had sunk deeper into the mud of corruption under the President.

The party pointed out the the latest ranking by Transparency International, which listed Nigeria as one of the most corrupt nations in the world, and the report of the US Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012, which showed Nigerian government officials and agencies frequently engaged in corrupt practices with impunity.

”It is now up to President Jonathan to take the fight against corruption seriously and work with other arms of government in combating the canker worm, or go down in the history of the country as the most corrupt administration ever. He can start by acting decisively on the Aviation scandal, and stop using ad-hoc panels to bury corruption cases,” the APC said.