Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, Accused of Bias in NCAA Fraud Probe
Sources within the ministry have alleged that Minister Festus Keyamo showed bias in the investigation of Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) officials involved in an alleged N7 billion fraud. While Captain Musa Nuhu, the NCAA Director General, was suspended by the President Bola Tinubu government over corruption allegations, nine other officials implicated in the embezzlement of Duty Tour Allowance (DTA) funds were spared.
The sources claim that these nine officials, from the same Southern region as Keyamo, have not been suspended, unlike the DG, who is from the Northern region. Instead, they have continued to receive promotions while quietly returning the stolen funds to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Civil service rules state that any civil servant indicted for corrupt practices should be suspended during the investigation. However, the NCAA officials have remained in their positions, and the EFCC has been criticized for compromising the investigation, resulting in the failure to charge the indicted officials to court after a year of investigation.
The allegedly favored NCAA officials include Obene Jenbarimiema Turniel, Hart Benson, Henry Okorie, Patrick Ejinaka, Edet Enemisit, Laisisi Olayinka, Olumide Salau, Davidson Udeme, and Esuruoso Olayinka.
The source suggested that the EFCC’s management should reassess the investigation to ensure no internal corruption has affected the case. After a year of investigation, the EFCC has failed to charge the nine accused officers to court, instead opting to collect repayments from them in secret tranches. Only the DG and four others were swiftly suspended and charged.
In March 2023, the EFCC arrested four top officials of the NCAA over allegations of fraud amounting to N2 billion in DTA, later discovered to be N7 billion. The source criticized the EFCC for conducting a superficial investigation, suggesting that a thorough probe could reveal over N20 billion in stolen funds.