EFCC quizzes Senator Oduah for 10 hours over alleged N9.4bn contract fraud

macfranc007 February 27, 2018 Nigeria News today & Breaking news ▷ Read Nigerian newspapers 24/7 Kess Ewubare

- Former minister of aviation, Senator Stella Oduah, honours EFCC invitation for questioning

- A source says the invitation was in relation to allegations of fraud in the N9.4bn ISEC contract for security installations in some airports

- Ex-army chief Kenneth Minimah refunds N1.7bn

Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have questioned a former minister of aviation, Stella Oduah, regarding the award and implementation of the N9.4 billion for the provision of security in 22 airports across Nigeria.

Vanguard reports that the question session which occurred around 11am at the EFCC head office in Abuja on Monday, February 26, lasted for over ten hours.

A source told the newspaper that one of the allegations concerns fraud in the N9.4bn ISEC contract for security installations in some airports which allegedly occurred when Oduah was the aviation minister under former president Goodluck Jonathan.

“Oduah arrived the headquarters of the agency in Abuja at about 11am and was still being grilled by a team of investigators by 6pm,” the official said.

“She was invited over a number of allegations bordering on abuse of office and money laundering. One of the allegations concerns fraud in the N9.4bn ISEC contract for security installations in some airports.

“She was invited on three different occasions to report for interview on the 13th June, 2017, 29th June 2017 and 13th November 2017 but she failed to honour any of the invitations.

“Rather than appear to face a panel that was raised by the EFCC to interrogate her, Oduah, through a letter dated January 5, 2018, informed the commission that she would honour the invite on January 29, 2018.

“There were issues surrounding the contract, including alleged non-execution of the project in some airports, abandonment of the contract in a few ones, diversion of part of the contract sum and suspected case of money laundering."

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Meanwhile, a former chief of army staff, Gen Kenneth Minimah (retd), has refunded about N1.7 billion believed to be part of the $2.1 billion allegedly misappropriated by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) under Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd) to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), The Nation reports.

NAIJ.com gathered that Minimah, who was the army chief from January 2014 to July 2015, returned the money following an extensive investigation by the anti-graft agency on the report and recommendations of the Presidential Committee on Audit of Defence Equipment Procurement (CADEP).

During Minimah’s tenure, CADEP had uncovered “irregularities” in the procurement and award of contracts in the army and suspicious transactions in the accounts of the Defence Industry Corporation of Nigeria.

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