Minister Acquires N2Billion Bill On Chartered Jets

A Minister may have been spending so much time in the air that she has wracked up a N2b bill in two years and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is being urged to probe how she blew the cash on chartered jets.
The Minister was reported to the Chairman of EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, by a whistle-blowing group, Crusaders for Good Governance (CGG), on August 13.
In the petition, signed by its representative, Okechukwu Obiorah Nnamdi, the group said its alarm against the Minister, who could not be reached for comments last night, was borne out of investigation.
The group said its allegations against the Minister could be verified through the records of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria(FAAN); the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency(NAMA) and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority(NCAA).
The petition said: “We are calling your attention to a monumental act of corruption, abuse of office and reckless application of public funds by a minister.
“We are of the view that Mr. President is not aware of all these atrocious and reckless spending of the minister. Usually, we understand that smaller presidential jets are usually assigned to ministers on official assignments abroad whenever there is need for such trips.
“We demand that you carry out thorough investigation of all the above which are easily verifiable through the aviation agencies, FAAN, NAMA and NCAA."
When contacted, the Head of Media and Publicity of EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, said: “I cannot confirm the receipt of the petition until Monday because petitions do not come directly to my desk.”