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Reps allege $30m fraud on plane request

By Ben Agande & Sufuyan Ojeifo, Abuja

THE House of Representatives alleged yesterday that the price of the refurbished aircraft which President Olusegun Obasanjo wanted to add to the presidential fleet by $30 million (N3 billion), might have been inflated, with two senators denouncing the N22.4 billion allocation which the National Assembly approved for itself in the 2000 Appropriation Bill.

In a statement in Abuja, Special Assistant to the Deputy Speaker on Media Relations, Mr. Yinka Oduwole said after extensive debate, the National Assembly reached the conclusion that the purchase of the aircraft should be shelved "in the interest of transparency and accountability."

"While reviewing the President’s request, the National Assembly was privy to privileged information that the cost of the refurbished aircraft may have been inflated by U.S. $30 million by persons anxious to ensure its purchase.

"The National Assembly, after extensive debates, reached the conclusion that in the interest of transparency and accountability, the request for the purchase of an aircraft should be dropped for now, pending a clearer picture on the matter," the statement added.

While noting that the National Assembly took note of the "unusual feverish campaign in the media" in reaching its decision, Mr. Oduwole added the National Assembly had reached a decision that the Presidency should present a supplementary request in the course of the year for a new aircraft.

Offering further insight into the controversy surrounding the purchase of the aircraft, the House alleged that upon further investigation, it was revealed that the latest attempt to sell the aircraft to Nigeria was the third by "interested parties who had earlier attempted to sell the aircraft to the government of Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar.

"Besides," the House added, "enquiries by the National Assembly showed that the repeated claim by the sympathisers to the deal that the President’s plane would be denied entry into European airspace on account of noise regulations is a bogus one as Heads of State and governments are said to be normally exempted from such air bans.

"In addition, the National Assembly was informed by aviation experts that if the plane being sought by the Presidency is bought, the Federal Government will have to spend additional huge sums of money in building a new hanger capable of holding this model of aircraft.

While describing as "cheap blackmail" the reports in the media on the denial of the President’s request for a plane, the National Assembly enjoined "all those behind these campaigns of calumny to have a rethink and re-direct their energies to the promotion of the public good."

2 senators denounce huge allocation

Meanwhile two senators, Mamman Bello Ali and M.T. Mbu (Junior) - yesterday protested the N22.4 billion the National Assembly appropriated to itself, saying there was no way the bogus figure could be rationalised and justified.

They both addressed a press conference moments after the Senate was presented with a clean copy of the budget (Appropriation Bill, 2000) and the details by the Chairman of the Committee on Finance and Appropriation, Senator Iya Abubakar.

In the clean copy which is expected to be forwarded to President Olusegun Obasanjo on Friday for his assent, the National Assembly has reduced its earlier appropriation of N26 billion which it jacked up from N4.5 billion proposed by President Obasanjo to N22.4 billion.

Presenting the committee’s report to the Senate, Senator Abubakar said that, against the backdrop of complaints by the Education Ministry of insufficient allocation," we felt we could make sacrifices and argument that of Education Ministry.

"We also transferred N812 million to the Ministry of Special Projects in the Presidency for the building of a banquet hall in the Presidential Villa."

According to him, "National Assembly’s capital expenditure was jacked up to N9.484 billion while under recurrent expenditure which was reduced from N18.8 billion to N13 billion, staff is allocated N1.8 billion, House of Representatives N7.1 billion; Senate N3.7 billion and National Assembly liabilities N421.8 million."

The money slashed from the National Assembly’s recurrent expenditure was added to the capital expenditure of Education Ministry, thus shooting the original appropriation of N20.3 billion to N23.3 billion.

The amendments were treated as corrigendum to the bill which was handed over to the Senate President, Dr. Chuba Okadigbo for onward transmission to President Obasanjo. But the details were at press time yet to be offered to senators.

Senator Femi Okunrounmu had wanted to raise a point of order but was not allowed to by Dr. Okadigbo who, rather, allowed another senator to move a motion for adjournment.

13th of April 2000