CHANNELS TV
The Nigerian Senate has frowned at an alleged mismanagement of the 120 billion Naira bailout fund for the aviation sector in 2011.
At a public hearing on Monday held to probe how the bailout was used, members of the joint Senate Committee on Aviation and Anti-corruption alleged that a great chunk of the funds were diverted to other uses by some of the airlines who got the loan.
‘No Sacred Cow’
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Aviation, Senator Hope Uzodinma, however, vowed that there would be no sacred cow when it completes its investigation on the matter.
At the hearing were government officials and representatives of airlines.
Senator Uzodinma first gave an insight into why the meeting was called and immediately after making his remarks, the Minister of Transport and Aviation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, told the joint committee that his ministry and its parastatals had no record of the funds.
To set the record straight, an official from the Central Bank, who is the Acting Director, Development and Finance, Mr Mudasiru Olaitan, gave a breakdown of what the aviation fund was all about.
Wired To Ghana And London
Out of the 10 airlines that received the bailout, two have become moribund.
Some members of the committee, however, observed that there was a twist in dealings of some of the airlines two weeks after they received the funds.
They alleged that some of the funds were wired to companies in Ghana and London for transactions not related to issues regarding the bailout.
Channels Television’s correspondent reports that more revelations are expected to emerge as presentations are made by key players in the aviation sector as well as government and private sector officials that facilitated the disbursement of the aviation bailout funds.
It is hoped that findings at the public hearing would resolve the many challenges confronting the aviation sector in the days ahead.
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