A civil society group, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has called on the President of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonthan, in a public appeal, to “urgently order the sale of the two armored BMW cars reportedly bought with funds from the Aviation Ministry, and to use the accrued funds to provide compensation to families of victims of recent air accidents as well as use part of the funds to set up a Trust Fund to jump-start genuine reform of the aviation industry.”
The confirmed purchase of two armoured BMW’s by the aviation authority, which was allegedly for the Minister, Stella Oduah, raised a lot of backlash on social and printmedia and was widely criticised by Nigerians.
Critics also condemned the timing of the purchase which is coming at a time when there have been several mishaps in the Nigerian air space.
However, SERAP, which is now calling for the sale of the cars backs up the appeal, adding that, “selling the cars as proceeds of corruption and using the funds to pay compensation to families of victims of persistent air accidents would also have the great additional benefit of reining in endemic corruption in the sector as perpetrators would know that they would not be allowed to profit from their crime.”
Following the outcry against the purchase, a manhunt which was reportedly declared in search of Nicholas Edwards, who is believed to have exposed details of the purchase, has also been condemned.
In a statement signed by Adetokunbo Mumuni and sent to Channels Television, the group asked the president “to publicly assure Nigerians that the whistleblower that leaked the information of the two BMW armoured cars bought for Aviation Minister, Ms. Stella Oduah will be fully protected from any harassment, intimidation or persecution by the authorities.”
SERAP also said it would offer “free legal services to ensure full protection and safety of the whistleblower in line with international standards. We appeal to the whistleblower to get in touch with our organization, and assure whoever this may be our full support and confidentiality. The whistleblower should be celebrated and not persecuted.”
The organisation went further to state that the purchase of the cars “illustrates the level of corruption in the sector, and explains why people’s lives have been repeatedly messed with by those entrusted with air safety and security in the country’s aviation industry.”
According to the organisation, “the cost in human lives of this diversion of critical funds is incalculable, and the president can no longer continue to treat this as normal as corruption in the aviation industry continue to cause so much suffering and misery for millions of families across the country.”
This alleged diversion “constitutes a serious breach of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) Act and the UN Convention against Corruption to which Nigeria is a state party, the group said, adding that, “high ranking corruption in the Ministry can only continue to make the aviation sector unsafe for Nigerians and thus exacerbate the increasing level of violation of the citizens’ human right to life and to security and dignity of the person.”
