Stella Oduah's car purchase whistleblower being haunted by NCAA

NCAA is not even ashamed to do a press conference and say they are looking for the whistle blower who broke the story of the two BMW armoured cars bought for Aviation Minister, Ms. Stella Oduah valued at N225million. Instead of looking for the whistle-blower, shouldn't they be prosecuting someone or some people for fraud and extortion?

The DG of NCAA, Capt. Fola Akinkuotu, said at a press conference which held yesterday Friday October 18th at the ministries HQ in Abuja, that the Federal Government was concerned about how the information got leaked to the public, saying that whoever leaked it committed a criminal offence.

“I am not saying that this particular information should not be put in the public domain, but how it was obtained is the concern. If somebody breaks into an office and makes copies of official documents, then the break-in has become criminal. So we are in the process of trying to find the source of this leakage and I am very concerned about it because this information may look trivial but there are other information that we have that are confidential and it is only fair for us to respect the confidentiality of information. I am not saying that they broke into our office, but they obtained the information illegally.”

 “I am shell shocked that government information and particularly information from the civil aviation authority has gotten into public purview in an illegal manner. It is criminal! However, what has been done has been done, but I think when such information is gotten, you should have come to the agency to ask. We are not shy to take your questions.

"US whistle blower Snowden went on the run after putting such information in the public domain. The sources of the leak I don’t know, but yesterday, I issued a circular to all staff on this issue. I will read a little part of the circular: ‘Without prejudice to the nature and the purpose of this act, you should know that leakage and ultimate publication is a matter of great concern to the authority.’

The NCAA DG also tried to explain why ONLY two BMW cars cost N225million. He kinda blamed it on the car company, saying that it was bought from a company (Coscharis) which had no competitors in Nigeria. He said;

“First, each car that you buy nowadays has a customised aspect to it and this may impact on the price. The other factor is what I call the environmental situation. Yesterday, a gentleman from Britain met me and said the fares in this country on British Airways and Virgin Atlantic are high. And he wondered why the situation had continued, but he said it was because Nigerians could  afford it.

“So the other aspect in this particular context is what I will call the monopolistic situation on these cars. Coscharis, as far as I understand, is about the only guy that sells BMW of this nature in Nigeria. If he is the only one selling, then you must buy from him if you want the car and he can name the price. So those are factors that may have resulted. But mind you, I am not holding brief for this. I do not know how much the cars cost and I cannot relate or answer the question on the actual cost of these cars. But were they budgeted for? Yes.”