Posted by Dr. Haruna Gololo, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has requested the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to look into the recently-resigned Minister of Aviation after unfavorable revelations on the alleged lunch of Nigeria Air planes.
On Tuesday in Abuja, Gololo made the announcement while speaking at a news conference.
He was responding to statements made by Capt. Dapo Olumide, the acting managing director of Nigeria Air, during a Senate Committee on Aviation investigation into the project’s current status.
At the investigation hearing, Olumide said that the alleged Nigeria Air plane that arrived bearing the airline’s logo had been hired from Ethiopian Airlines specifically for the debut of the logo.
In addition, he stated that, in contrast to what the previous aviation minister had claimed about Air Nigeria, the airline had not yet obtained an operating license for full flying operations.
Olumide had stated to the Senate committee that the plane was being utilized while the procedures necessary for the airline’s functioning were being completed.
Gololo, on the other hand, declared: “We are giving the EFCC two weeks to arrest and investigate the former Minister of Aviation and other key participants in the former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.”
He claimed that if the EFCC could pursue the “Yahoo Boys” for suspected frauds, it could equally pursue government officials for alleged massive fraud.
“Only yesterday the Senate Committee on Aviation confirmed the fear and suspicion of many Nigerians, when it unearthed the issues in the aviation sector by the immediately past minister, indicating that the procurement of Nigeria Air was a scam which gulped billions of tax payers funds.”
During the general elections, Gololo, who served as the coordinator of the North-East Tinubu, Shettima support group, questioned what had become of the M11.3 trillion spent on the Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) of the refineries in Kaduna, Warri, and Port Harcourt.
But today, the contract-awarding minister of state for petroleum resources went to run for governor in order to obtain immunity.
“A number of other MDAs were pillaged under the Buhari administration.”
He complained that the newly appointed Executive Director of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) had been hired by the previous administration when refineries were still operating.