- Written by By Bertram Nwannekanma, Joseph Onyekwere (Lagos) and Omotola Oloruntobi (Abuja)
• Aturu condemns officials’ actionLAGOS-BASED civil society group, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), Sunday appealed to President Goodluck Jonathan to “urgently order the sale of the two armoured BMW cars reportedly bought with funds from the Aviation Ministry”.
Meanwhile, a prominent Lagos lawyer and human rights crusader, Bamidele Aturu, Sunday condemned the alleged purchase of armored cars at the sum of N255 million by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to the Minister of Aviation, describing it as utterly depressing.
According to Aturu, such act shows that people who occupy political offices in Nigeria place their own security over and above the security of the people.
“First, they do not see that their reckless spending are fueling the insecurity in the country by worsening the poverty condition of the people. It is precisely as a result of the kind of indefensible expenditure made by the NCAA that many young Nigerians have taken to crimes, as there are no jobs for them elsewhere.
“Second, when public officials fortify themselves as in the case of the Minister of Aviation, they lack incentives to make them take public security seriously.
“The purchase of the vehicles and the acceptance of the vehicles is so egregious that now that the scandal has broken, even the minister herself must condemn it, apologise to the people and resign immediately. Nothing short of this is acceptable”, he said.
He explained that the NCAA’s action is not an isolated one. He said the culture of senseless spending is pervasive in the government. “We may need a commission to unearth other silly and reckless expenditures. This is why it is arrant nonsense for the DG of NCAA to be threatening whoever leaked the information about the irresponsible use of our resources to protect a clearly incompetent minister.
“Even if the minister had been competent, the misuse of public funds to buy her armored vehicles would still have been indefensible. Whoever leaked the information should be given the higher national award possible, for I know of no better act of patriotism this year than the leak. “We wish the fellow could demonstrate some more courage and own up so we can compel the government to give him or her GCFR. The DG of NCAA, by his incoherent and incomprehensible ranting, shows that he does not deserve to stay a day longer in that office. He should be thrown out”, he noted.
SERAP urged that the accrued funds be used to provide compensation for families of victims of recent air accidents and part of the funds to set up a Trust Fund to jump-start genuine reform of the aviation industry.
The organisation, in a public appeal dated October 20, 2013, and signed by its Executive Director, Adetokunbo Mumuni, said that “Selling the cars as proceeds of corruption and using the funds to pay compensation to families of victims of persistent air accidents would also have the great additional benefit of reining in endemic corruption in the sector as perpetrators would know that they would not be allowed to profit from their crime.”
The organisation also asked the President “to publicly assure Nigerians that the whistle-blower that leaked the information of the two BMW armoured cars bought for Aviation Minister, Stella Oduah, will be fully protected from any harassment, intimidation or persecution by the authorities.
SERAP further promised to offer “free legal services to ensure full protection and safety of the whistle-blower in line with international standards.
“We appeal to the whistle-blower to get in touch with our organisation, and assure whoever this may be of our full support and confidentiality. The whistle-blower should be celebrated and not persecuted.”
“The reported diversion of $1.6 million (N255 million) to pay for two cars by someone that should normally be the number-one safety official in the Aviation Ministry illustrates the level of corruption in the sector and explains why people’s lives have been repeatedly messed with by those entrusted with air safety and security in the country’s aviation industry,” it added.
“As the overall supervisor and boss of the Aviation Ministry, President Jonathan should now show leadership not only by ensuring full accountability in this case but also making sure that the management of the ministry is fully compliant with anti-corruption legislation and treaties that Nigeria has ratified, and pro-actively ensure the full implementation of these laws and treaties for the sake of safety of millions of Nigerians who daily travel through our airports,” SERAP added.
No comments:
Post a Comment