NIGERIA: The All Progressives Congress (APC) has urged the Minister of Aviation, Ms Stella Oduah, to either resign or be fired by President Goodluck Jonathan, following her indictment by the House of Representatives over the N255 million car saga.
In a statement by its spokesperson, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party commended the lawmakers for taking a definitive stand on the N255 million scandal by asking President Goodluck Jonathan to review the continued engagement of the Minister of Aviation over her role in the scam. The party said by its action, the House of Representatives had again signalled its readiness to play its own part in fighting the massive corruption which had allegedly enveloped the country.
It also said that by its unequivocal stand on the scandal, coming on the heels of the recent criticism of President Jonathan’s alleged tepid fight against corruption by House Speaker Aminu Tambuwal, the House had 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.
‘’Therefore, Ms Oduah has no basis for continued occupation of her post as Minister of Aviation and should step down immediately. If she fails to do so, she should be fired by the President,’’ it said.
APC said if the minister failed to resign and the president refused to fire her, it would confirm the general perception across the country that the president was not ready or willing to fight corruption.
The party said failure by the president to heed the call by the House of Representatives on Oduahgate would also add to his earlier alleged failure to act on the House’s decision on the massive oil subsidy scam, and the alleged failure of his administration to bring to justice all those behind the series of corruption cases that have dogged 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.
‘’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,’’ APC said.
‘’The president’s decision to hug corruption rather than 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.
‘’But this overly simplistic take on corruption in Nigeria flies in the face of the ava
ilable evidence that Nigeria has sunk deeper into the mud of corruption under President Jonathan, especially the latest ranking by Transparency International, which lists 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 shows Nigerian government officials and agencies frequently engaged in corrupt practices with impunity.
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