L
LequteMan
Guest
Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, the Minister of Petroleum Resources, has been given up till April 28 to respond to enquiries on the N10bn she allegedly spent on chartering a private jet, Challenger 850, for her trips in the last two years.
The House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts, which gave the deadline according to Punch, would also open a public hearing on the allegation on April 28.
Although, the original mandate of the committee was to investigate the alleged N10bn expenditure on the Challenger 850, the committee stumbled on additional information indicating that Alison-Madueke chartered two other jets.
One of them, a Global Express XRS, was said to have cost €600,000 in a return charter trip to London.
Findings also indicated that a combination of factors, including Diezani’s alleged refusal to respond to enquiries and pressures mounted on the committee to soft pedal on the matter, had delayed the committee’s work.
The “delay and all the shenanigans” would not deter the committee from proceeding with the public hearing, a committee source said.
However, Alison-Madueke is reportedly gathering a team of seasoned lawyers who are currently working with the legal arm of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to provide a defence that would justify how she has not broken any law that empowers the corporation to charter planes for oil operations.
The House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts, which gave the deadline according to Punch, would also open a public hearing on the allegation on April 28.
Although, the original mandate of the committee was to investigate the alleged N10bn expenditure on the Challenger 850, the committee stumbled on additional information indicating that Alison-Madueke chartered two other jets.
One of them, a Global Express XRS, was said to have cost €600,000 in a return charter trip to London.
Findings also indicated that a combination of factors, including Diezani’s alleged refusal to respond to enquiries and pressures mounted on the committee to soft pedal on the matter, had delayed the committee’s work.
The “delay and all the shenanigans” would not deter the committee from proceeding with the public hearing, a committee source said.
However, Alison-Madueke is reportedly gathering a team of seasoned lawyers who are currently working with the legal arm of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to provide a defence that would justify how she has not broken any law that empowers the corporation to charter planes for oil operations.
