N255m car scandal: Finally, Jonathan moves against Oduah

President Goodluck Jonathan may have finally succumbed to public pressure to move against the embattled Minister of Aviation, Ms Stella Oduah, who is currently being probed over the N255m bulletproof cars bought for her by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority.
The development came to the fore with the last-minute decision to stop Oduah from signing the much-publicised Bilateral Air Services Agreement with Israel.
The ceremony was given by Presidency officials as the main purpose of her inclusion in the President’s entourage to Israel for this year’s Christian pilgrimage.
In her stead, Minister of State I, Foreign Affairs, Prof. Viola Onwuliri, signed the agreement on behalf of the Federal Government while the Deputy Israeli Foreign Minister, Mr. Zeer Elkin, signed on behalf of the Israeli government.
Presidential spokesman, Dr. Reuben Abati, after releasing a photograph on Monday on the signing ceremony, issued a statement in which he confirmed that Onwuliri signed on behalf of the government.
Abati did not however explain why Oduah was not allowed to sign the agreement despite the fact that the photograph released by her aides showed that she was present at the event.
The President had come under criticisms for allowing the minister to be on his entourage at a time he set up a three-member panel to investigate the purchase of the cars.
A top Presidency source on the entourage of the President in Israel told our correspondent on the telephone that the decision to stop Oduah from signing the agreement was taken shortly after Jonathan arrived in Israel.
That same reason, he added, informed the decision of the President’s aides to keep the minister away from the President since their arrival in the country.

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