President Goodluck Jonathan will soon
order relevant government agencies to investigate the purchase of two
bulletproof vehicles for the Minister of Aviation, Ms Stella Oduah.
The vehicles valued at a whopping
$1.6m (about N225m) were said to have been delivered to Oduah in August
by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority.
Special Adviser to the President on
Political Matters, Ahmed Gulak, in an interview on Friday said Jonathan would
not shield the minister.
Gulak, however, said the President
would not take a decision on the fate of the embattled minister based on media
reports.
He said Jonathan’s decision would be
based on verifiable facts, which could only be achieved when relevant
government agencies investigate the matter.
The presidential aide said Jonathan
would not hesitate to show anybody found guilty of corruption or impunity the
way out of his government.
He assured Nigerians that the
President was on top of the situation.
He did not, however, disclose when
the President would order the probe. He also did not name the agencies that
would probe the allegation.
Gulak said, “I can assure you that
President Jonathan will not shield the minister or any government official for
that matter if he receives information that is true.
“In this particular instance, the
reports are in the media. But media reports are not enough to
act on.
“The President is on top of the
situation. He will direct appropriate authorities to investigate the matter.
“Anybody found wanting in terms of
corruption or impunity, President Jonathan will not hesitate to show such
person the way out of his government.
“The most important thing is that
such decision must be based on facts as provided by appropriate government
agencies that will investigate, not based on media reports.”
Some stakeholders in the aviation
industry and civil society groups had on Thursday called on the nation’s
anti-corruption agencies to investigate the matter.
Tags
Politics