Jonathan places Oduah on ‘tactical suspension’

President Goodluck Jonathan may have
placed the embattled Minister of
Aviation, Ms. Stella Oduah, on “tactical
suspension,” findings by The PUNCH
have revealed.
A reliable Presidency source said
Jonathan decided on the “tactical
suspension,” hours before the signing of
the Bilateral Air Service Agreement
between Nigeria and Israel on Monday.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of
Aviation, Mr. George Ossi, had on
October 24 told the House of
Representatives Committee on Aviation
that Oduah   led a Nigerian delegation to
Israel to sign the BASA.
The House committee is probing the
purchase of two bulletproof cars at a
whopping N255m price by the Nigerian
Civil Aviation Authority for the minister.
Our source explained that it was the
‘tactical suspension’ that made Jonathan
to direct the Minister of State (1) for
Foreign Affairs , Prof. Viola Onwuliri, to
sign the  agreement instead of Oduah.
When asked by one of our
correspondents what ‘tactical
suspension’ meant, he said, “Oduah
will not be allowed to attend public
functions that will have the President in
attendance until the three-member
committee set up to investigate the
matter turns in its report.”
The source, who said he did not know
whether the “tactical suspension” order
had been formally communicated to the
minister, stated that the step became
necessary in order to dissuade Nigerians
who hold the opinion that the
President was  shielding  Oduah.
In what seemed a corroboration of the
“tactical suspension,” the Special
Adviser to the President on Political
Matters, Mr. Ahmed Gulak, insisted
that Jonathan would not associate with
or shield anybody found to be corrupt.
He insisted during an interview with
one of our correspondents on Tuesday,
that the minister did not travel to Israel
on the entourage of the President.
“Did you see them (Jonathan and the
minister) together in Israel? The
President will not associate or shield
anybody found to be corrupt. That is
why he set up that panel because he will
not want to act based on media
reports,” Gulak  said.
Shortly before our source and Gulak
spoke, the Presidency said the BASA
was signed by Onwuliri  because it was a
matter bordering on foreign affairs.
The Special Adviser to the President on
Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati,
in an exclusive telephone interview with
one of our correspondents,  argued that
there was no politics involved in
Onwuliri signing the agreement on
behalf of the government.
He said Nigerians should not reduce the
matter to “the politics of political
appointees who are all ultimately birds
of passage.”
The President’s spokesman said Oduah
did not only attend the signing
ceremony but was also involved in
framing the technical details of, and in
preparing the agreement along with her
Israeli counterpart.
He said it was when that was done, that
the Foreign Ministries moved in at the
level of G2 diplomacy.
Abati added, “The groundwork (for the
agreement) was done by the Ministry of
Aviation hence the involvement of the
Aviation Minister, but this being a
country-to-country agreement, more or
less a treaty, it had to be signed by the
Foreign Affairs Minister.
“It is also the convention in diplomacy
to pair ministers. The Israelis brought
their Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister, so
we did the same. There was no politics
involved and there is no doubt that it is
within the provenance of the Foreign
Ministry to sign agreements on behalf of
the country.
“Let me add that BASA is about
countries entering into an agreement.
“It is not about individuals. We must
avoid the ridiculous temptation to
reduce something that will promote
good relations with a friendly nation to
the politics of political appointees who
are all ultimately birds of passage.”
When asked if the embattled minister
was under “tactical suspension,” Abati
replied, “She (Oduah was actually in
attendance at the signing of the BASA .
As I said, she was involved in framing
the technical details of, and in preparing
the agreement along with her Israeli
counterpart. That done, the Foreign
ministries moved in at the level of G2
diplomacy.”
Meanwhile, the ruling Peoples
Democratic Party said on Tuesday that
it was worried by the bulletproof car
scandal.
Like, Gulak, it assured Nigerians that
whoever was found culpable would
face the law because it (PDP) would
never condone any form of graft.
The party, however, wondered why the
opposition All Progressives Congress
was going into a frenzy over the scandal
when its “governors and leaders have
been involved in bulletproof car deals
more scandalous than those in the
Ministry of Aviation.”
In a statement by its National
Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh,
the PDP said its position on corruption
was unambiguous.
A part of the statement reads, “The
position of our great party on corruption
is unambiguous and our zero tolerance
for corrupt practices abounds in practical
examples.
“To us as a party, the accusation of
corruption in the Aviation ministry is a
big worry. It is for this reason that the
President and the leader of our party
has set up a panel to investigate the
matter while the National Assembly
which we also lead  has stepped in.”
It frowned on the ethnic dimension
which comments and street actions on
the issue had taken and advised
“ethnic lords, jingoists as well as lynch
mobs “ to realise that biased
sentiments could hardly achieve an
objective basis for establishing the
culpability of the public officers involved
in the matter.”
The party then went for the jugular of
the APC , saying it (APC) was not
different from a white washed tomb.
The PDP described the APC as a
stinking sepulchre and the
headquarters of corruption in Nigeria.
It said, “This is a party whose leaders
relish in stinking miasma but artfully
turning a blind eye to it.
“They however go megaphonic when
other political parties are involved.
“Hardly can you point at any of its
leaders without a heavy baggage.
“In fact, the governors and leaders of
the APC have been involved in
bulletproof car deals more scandalous
than those at the Aviation ministry but
this is conspicuously missing on the
sermon list of these false evangelists of
good governance.”
It wondered why the trial of the
Speaker of the Lagos State House of
Assembly, Mr. Adeyemi Ikuforiji, for
acts of corruption, had yet to be
discussed by the APC leadership.
The PDP further contended that the
stench of corruption oozing from the
concession of the Lekki Toll Plaza and
its debilitating effects on the electoral
fortune of APC was the reason the
Lagos State Government allegedly
retrieved and paid off the firm that
built the road.