A manhunt for the whistleblower that broke the story of the two BMW armoured cars bought for Aviation Minister, Ms. Stella Oduah has been launched by the Federal Government.
N255m was spent to buy two cars for the minister by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority.
Capt. Fola Akinkuotu, the Director-General, NCAA disclosed this at a press conference at the head office of the Federal Ministry of Aviation in Abuja on Friday.
The Director-General said the Federal Government was concerned about how the information got leaked to the public, saying whoever leaked the information committed a criminal offence.
According to Akinkuotu, the agency had begun moves to uncover the person[s] that leaked the information to the public.
“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,” he said.
“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.”
Akinkuotu was visibly terrified as he said that he was stunned to see the documents in the open, stressing that the information was leaked illegally.
“(I was) 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.”
Akinkuotu compared the leak to that of Snowden of the United States who ran away after leaking confidential information.
“He (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’,” he added.
NCAA had purchased two vehicles valued at a whopping $1.6m said to have been delivered to Oduah in August this year. The armoured vehicles, BMW 760 Li, were bought from Coscharis Motors Limited in Lagos.
Since the report was released, Nigerians have expressed anger over the purchase with stakeholders calling on the nation’s anti-corruption agencies to investigate the issue.
The vehicles’ costs are also said to have been grossly inflated. They are seen to be a waste of the nation’s scarce resources especially in a sector that is poorly funded and which had recorded a series of air crashes in recent times.
NCAA boss however stated that the purchase of the vehicles followed stipulated due process, adding that the prices of the cars were high probably because it was bought from a company which had no competitors in Nigeria.
