A
reliable Presidency source said Jonathan decided on the “tactical
suspension,” hours before the signing of the Bilateral Air Service
Agreement between Nigeria and Israel on Monday.
The
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Aviation, Mr. George Ossi, had on October
24 told the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation that
Oduah led a Nigerian delegation to Israel to sign the BASA.
The House
committee is probing the purchase of two bulletproof
cars at a whopping N255m price by the Nigerian Civil Aviation
Authority for the minister.
A source
explained that it was the ‘tactical suspension’ that made Jonathan to
direct the Minister of State (1) for Foreign Affairs, Prof. Viola
Onwuliri, to sign the agreement instead of Oduah.
When
asked by one of our correspondents what ‘tactical suspension’ meant,
he said, “Oduah will not be allowed to attend public functions that
will have the President in attendance until the three-member
committee set up to investigate the matter turns in its report.”
The
source, who said he did not know whether the “tactical suspension” order
had been formally communicated to the minister, stated that
the step became necessary in order to dissuade Nigerians who hold the opinion
that the President was shielding Oduah.
In what
seemed a corroboration of the “tactical suspension,” the Special Adviser
to the President on Political Matters, Mr. Ahmed Gulak, insisted that
Jonathan would not associate with or shield anybody found to be corrupt.
He
insisted during an interview with one of our correspondents on Tuesday,
that the minister did not travel to Israel on the entourage of the President.
“Did you
see them (Jonathan and the minister) together in Israel? The President will not
associate or shield anybody found to be corrupt. That is why he set up that
panel because he will not want to act based on media reports,” Gulak
said.
Punch
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