…group demands probe
It appears not all appointees of President Muhammadu Buhari are on the same page with him as he fights corruption and leads the way by living a prudent life devoid of waste as some of his appointees still carry over the life of profligacy from the immediate past administration.
One of such appointee is the minister of state for agriculture and rural development, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri who is now enmeshed in a controversial car gift for his Technical Adviser on Agric business, Miss Eniye Ambakederimo in spite of the harsh economic condition in the country that is now in recession.
The car, a 2015 Ford Escape was allegedly procured between July and August, 2016, shortly after the said aide, who was the head of Bayelsa Investment Promotion Board assumed duties.
The invoice for the purchase of the car was obtained by one Engineer Isah Imam who also transferred the said sum from an account belonging to a company in which Lokpobiri has interest into the sales account of a leading car vendor in Abuja. The fund transfer for payment was made in a second generation bank in Abuja.
The former banker was said to have been lodged at Transcorp Hilton Hotel for four weeks at the expense of Lokpobiri before the minister made an alternative accommodation arrangement for her at outskirts of Apo District. It was unclear if the three bed room apartment is a purchased or rented one.
According to our findings, the female aide of the minister was once a banker and a close associate of Senator Emmanuel Paulker and former president, Dr Goodluck Jonathan who appointed her as an executive director of the Asset Management Company of Nigeria ( AMCON).
Details of the controversial purchase of the SUV became a subject of prying eyes of the security agencies late last year when the female aide of the minister had a minor accident in Abuja. Her SUV was reportedly delayed for twenty four hours by officers at an undisclosed Police Station and in the course of a routine check, Policemen discovered the documents which they found curious.
Meanwhile, a pro-Buhari campaign group, thee Niger Delta Change Front (NDCF) has challenged the anti corruption bodies to beam its searchlight on the minister’s alleged purchase of the N9m car.
The group in a statement signed by its president, Engineer Worgu Wokedi alleged Lokpobiri’s female aide is a mole in the ministry of agriculture, threatening to present documents and bank details on the purchase once a given time frame is exhausted.
”We are challenging the nation’s anti graft bodies to ensure that the proper thing is done. This is a government that we fought for a mole like the minister’s aide is not fit to be in the agriculture ministry which President Buhari has much trust on to diversify our ailing economy.
”We give the minister seven days to explain the source of the car for his female aide or else we will tender documents of the scandalous purchase of the car and other details.”, he said.
