Chairman, House Committee on Aviation, Hon. Nkiru Onyejeocha, has been lambasted for calling into question the stewardship of immediate past Mininster of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah.

In a statement issued today in Enugu, the Ikenga Award for Excellence Foundation said: “It is shocking that recently, an Igbo daughter Hon. Nkiru Onyejeocha, the Chairman, House Committee on Aviation, has unleashed unwarranted attacks on the former Min. of Aviation purporting that Princess Stella Oduah left an unsustainable and scary debt profile for the ministry. That House Committee on Aviation is unaware of the aviation master plan. Also, that Princess Stella Oduah should return the security vehicles to the suppliers.”

Joining issues with Hon. Onyejeocha, Ikenga Award for Excellence Foundation in the statement signed by its Director General, Hon. Dr. Ben C. Ugwu, Mni, said: “Nigerians are unanimous in their observations that before the advent of Princess Stella Oduah’s administration in the aviation ministry, the sector was in a complete state of decadence, and was laden in rot and shambles. The aviation sector was characterised with non functional airport facilities, poor power supply, insecurity, and maladministration. It was common knowledge that at that present time, the sector was an eyesore to international travellers visiting Nigeria and a paradigm of Nigeria’s economic state; this invariably brought utter shame to all Nigerians. Nigerian airports were in gross deplorable conditions despite efforts by successive administration before the coming of Princess Stella Oduah’s leadership.”

According to the group in the statement, a copy of which was made available to News Express, “Nigerians feel humiliated, surprised and embarrassed that Hon Nkiru. Onyejeocha has without founded facts and inconclusive proofs engaged in an unwarranted crisis in the aviation industry again. A crisis which our most delectable former minister weathered though in the face of severe criticism against her personality.

“It is rather inconceivable that the Honourable Chairman can deny knowledge, whether actual or constructive of the aviation master plan that our dear daughter created upon assumption of office. “This is because it was a master plan which she co-signed with the Senate Committee Chairman on Aviation approving the utilisation of $60m from BASA funds. And also conveyed her approval and appropriation for the utilisation of BASA funds of N25 billion for the ministry’s project execution. Surprising she also denied knowledge of this master plan, yet she traveled to China with the President and the former minister to sign the MoU of the loan.

Nigerians are fully aware that she has concocted a plan to bring into ridicule the President Goodluck Jonathan’s transformation agenda for the aviation sector which was inspired, anchored and directed by Princess Stella Oduah.

“The Hon. Chairman’s false allegation and spurious alarm that there is scary and unsustainable loan of N174 billion incurred by the aviation ministry under the administration of the former aviation minister is a figment of her imagination. This is because it is clear that based on her recent actions, she does not have proper and proven facts on ground in respect of the issue. We strongly advise Hon. Nkiru Onyejeocha to critically appraise the debt profile of the aviation ministry before the inception of Princess Stella Oduah’s administration.

“In the light of this calculated streams of attacks that is made through political lines against former minister of aviation, Nigerians are fully aware of the total transformation of the twenty two airports across the country. Nigerians are also aware of the massive infrastructural development in the aviation sector under the administration of Princess Stella Oduah. Not to mention the 11 new state of the art airports that have been under construction across the nation and are all presently near completion.

“Finally, the Nigerian public is advised to get their facts right and ignore the spurious and baseless opinion held out on the pages of newspapers. If Princess Stella Oduah has wronged the nation by serving her judiciously and selflessly, or otherwise, the law courts are there to exert justice, and posterity is there to judge.”

Ikenga Award for Excellence Foundation appealed to the leadership of the National Assembly to call Hon. Onyejeocha to order, so that she may “stop heating up the system unnecessarily and dragging the transformation agenda of Mr. President to the mud, thus portraying the National Assembly in a bad light to Nigerians.”

The group also urged all Nigerians “to shun unprogressive forces that are bent on killing the positive drive of agents of development on the altar of politics and selfish ambitions.” It reminded Hon. Onyejeocha that “people who live in glass houses do not throw stones because they end up destroying theirs.”

Ikenga said that it remains proud of Princess Stella Oduah as a recipient of Ikenga Award for Excellence on aviation transformation. “We strongly urge prominent Ndi Igbo sons and daughters to unite and stop fighting one another in the full glare of the nation,” the group said, adding: “We trust that the Chairman House Committee on Aviation, would hastily, in the spirit of patriotism and national consciousness retrace her steps and emphatically end these unwarranted attacks on our amiable daughter Princess Stella Oduah.

“Please let Adaeze Oduah rest after a successful sojourn in the aviation industry.”

•Photo shows Ex-Aviation Minister, Princess Stella Oduah.

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