BEVERLY HILLS, February 03, (THEWILL) – In what can be described in some quarters as an assimilation of the anti-corruption posture of the Muhammadu Buhari administration, the Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi has prevented directors in his ministry and the Ministry of Finance from departing for China on an originally scheduled flight upon discovery that their tickets were paid for by an interested contractor bidding for railway and airport rehabilitation projects.
Amaechi had last week asked his directors as well as those of the Finance ministry to disembark from the plane that was due to fly them to China, causing a disruption in the first meeting to hold in Beijing between the Nigerian delegation and the China Exim Bank.
The disruption reportedly triggered a verbal exchange between Amaechi and his counterpart in the Finance ministry, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, who did not hide her displeasure over the fact that her directors missed the first meeting with the Exim Bank of China.
Sources at the Ministry of Transportation narrated to THISDAY that just when Amaechi and his team were about to depart for China from Abuja onboard Emirates Airline, he discovered that the directors from his ministry are flying on the bill of the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, CCECC.
Uncomfortable with the discovery, the minister asked his directors to disembark from the aircraft, stressing that they cannot go on the trip on the bill of a contractor, who was an interested party in the business that was billed for discussions with the China Exim Bank.
One of the insiders said, “The minister was livid and could not comprehend why he would be flown on an official trip by an interested contractor. So the minister gave the order immediately for everyone to disembark from that flight.”
It was further learnt that while the directors from the transportation ministry where leaving the plane, Amaechi sighted the directors from the Ministry of Finance on the plane and equally discovered, upon enquiries, that the same contractor had paid for their trip also.
Angry over the fact that top civil servants were being induced by CCECC, the former Rivers Governor immediately asked the directors from the Ministry of Finance to also quit the plane.
Amaechi was said to have left the Ministry of Finance in the dark over what informed his decision, preferring to seek the endorsement of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to prevent the Finance ministry directors from proceeding on the trip on sponsored tickets. It was stated that the Vice President given him the go ahead, reinforcing Amaechi’s position that nobody must go on the bill of any contractor.
The ministry source said Amaechi then directed his ministry to immediately bear the entire cost of the trip on Lufthansa Airways, including those of the finance directors, adding that it was decided that the Ministry of Finance would reimburse the transportation ministry when the delegation returned from China.
Curiously however, by the time Amaechi got to China, he was said to have discovered again that the same contractor had made provisions for their hotel reservations – another gesture he turned down, asking everyone to be responsible for their hotel bills, while he sought the understanding of the hotel management to let them settle the bills after their stay.
But a furious Adeosun, who all along did not know why Amaechi had delayed the Finance directors from making it to the first meeting, accosted her Transportation counterpart for an explanation in Beijing.
The newspaper further reported that she however accepted Amaechi’s explanation after he revealed to her why their departure had to be delayed, more so when his action had the express permission of Osinbajo.
