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| patience jonathan |
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First Lady Patience Jonathan is the convener of the event, with the
theme “The African Woman: A Voice for Peace,” which is expected to be
attended by spouses of African leaders.
The cars comprise 80 units of BMW X3 and
X5 series with a market value of N13.5 million each, while the
remaining 120 are exotic models of Honda, Jaguar and others.
Sources said that the
vehicles were supplied by Coscharis Motors, and 180 units have already
been delivered to the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Saturday.
The cars are for use during the 7th
African First Ladies for Peace Mission (AFLPM) summit scheduled for 24
to 27 July in Abuja. Already, African first ladies have begun arriving
in the country since weekend for the four-day event.
There was conflicting information by
last night on whether the cars were bought outright or hired, and no
government official was ready to speak with our correspondents on the
record for this story.
When Daily Trust contacted spokesman for
Coscharis Motors, Mr. Ifeanyi Nihe, by telephone on Monday, he said the
company had supplied vehicles to the Federal Government but refused to
state the number and cost.
“I am not in the position to give out the real value of the transaction,” he said.
When asked which government agency was
handling the transaction, Nihe said, “Our company is still talking with
some officials of the government. I don’t know whether it is the First
Lady’s office or not.”
Nihe also could not confirm to Daily Trust whether the cars were sold or leased out to the government for the event.
Coscharis Motors is the same company
that supplied over 3,000 units of BMW series used during the 8th All
African Games also known as COJA in 2003.
A source said the transaction for the 200 cars was processed by the office of the Minister of State for Finance.
Attempts to seek explanation from the
office were not successful as a spokesman declined comment while the
minister of state, Dr. Yerima Ngama, did not answer calls to his phone
on Monday.
Also, attempts to get reaction from the
office of the First Lady were not successful. Her spokesman Ayo Adewuyi
could not be reached by telephone on Monday and yesterday.
The Federal Government is supposed to be
operating a “monetization” policy under which government officials are
paid monies in lieu of official vehicles. Ministries and agencies,
including the Presidency, are also supposed to maintain pools of limited
numbers of vehicles for official activities.
It is not clear what will happen to the
200 cars after the First Ladies conference, but such vehicles usually
end up being auctioned at rock-bottom prices to the well-connected or
government workers take possession of them.
The main objective of the African First
Ladies summit, according to the concept paper, is to “facilitate the
flow of authentic conversations and ideas that will create powerful new
paradigm for the African woman.”
During the conference, the foundation
laying ceremony of the secretariat of Mrs. Jonathan’s First Ladies Peace
Mission is scheduled be performed in Abuja.
The foundation is to be laid on the
disputed land allocated to former first lady Turai Yar’Adua’s Women and
Youth Empowerment Foundation (WAYEF) in February 2010 but revoked by FCT
Minister Bala Mohammed in November last year and reallocated to Mrs.
Jonathan’s pet project.
The AFLPM was established in 1997 and
aims at the prevention and management of conflict as well as the
preservation of peace through civil and humanitarian diploma
3 comments:
when people are at their homes looking for what to eat!!! what is this country turning into? which kind of president we get self uh?
Wot ¶§ dis country turning to?
Allow them to enjoy is their turn.
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