Senator Stella Oduah
By Baron Ike, Abuja
Former minister of aviation, Senator Stella Oduah has hinted that he colleague in the petroleum resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke was instrumental to her being sacked by former President Goodluck Jonathan from his cabinet in 2014.
Diezani is currently under investigation at home and abroad for alleged corrupt activities.
Since Buhari won the 2015 presidential election, she has been holed up in a London apartment from where she said she was treating cancer related ailment.
Oduah got into trouble after it was revealed that she bought luxury bullet proof cars for herself–from coffers of aviation agencies she was supervising.
The BMW armoured cars cost the Nigerian taxpayer $1.6m
At the time, the Jonathan administration said it was relieving Oduah, Minister of State for Finance, Yerima Ngama, Minister of Police Affairs, Caleb Olubolade ; and Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godsday Orubebe of their jobs in order to allow them pursue other interests, mainly political.
Oduah contested and won an election as a Senator representing Anambra north in the upper legislative chamber.
In a new book written by Bolaji Abdullahi, a spokesperson of the governing APC who also served in the Jonathan cabinet as Sports Minister, Oduah said her sack was the result of intense power play and jealousy from Alison-Madueke.
Bolaji Abdullahi is author of new book titled ‘On a Platter of Gold: How Jonathan Won and Lost Nigeria’.
Oduah told the author that Jonathan summoned her after the bullet-proof luxury car scandal became a subject of intense press coverage.
“At the Villa on the day were former secretary to the government of the federation, Anyim Pius Anyim now in EFCC custody and Alison-Madueke who was one of Jonathan’s blue eyed ministers.
“I thought she had my back. I did not know at the time that she was actually fuelling it and orchestrating all the media attacks,” Abdullahi quoted Oduah in the book.
She added: “I knew all along that Diezani could not deal with having another female around who had the kind of access I had to the president. But she went too far.
“She thought I was the one who leaked the issue of private jet that put her into trouble with the House of Representatives (Diezani was accused of spending N10b on chartered jets). For her it was payback time.”
Odua also added: “Diezani was paying people to keep the story alive. At the same time, she was whispering in [the president’s] ears that he had to take action.”