DIEZANI JET SCANDAL: SECOND PLANE DISCOVERED

The House of Representatives have uncovered a second jet being used by the petroleum minister, Deziani Alison-Madueke.

The House is already investigating allegations that the minister spent N10bn of public funds on a Challenger 850 private jet for her personal use.

The second jet uncovered, a Global Express XRS plane, is allegedly chartered specifically for her private and official trips overseas and a return trip on the plane is estimated to cost taxpayers €600,000.

Investigation showed that the House Committee on Public Accounts stumbled on the second jet in the course of the ongoing probe into the N10bn expenditure on Challenger 850.

Findings also showed that the owners of Challenger 850 might have fled the country shortly after the House ordered an investigation into the transaction between them and Alison-Madueke.

However, a document our correspondent obtained in Abuja on Tuesday, indicated that Alison-Madueke flew in Global Express XRS on two occasions in 2011.

She chartered the same jet twice in 2013 on a return trip bill of €600,000 per trip.

For example, on March 21, 2011, she flew to London with the jet from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

On board the jet with her were two people, Imotimi Agama and Haruna Momoh.

The aircraft returned to Nigeria from London on March 23, conveying the same passengers.

Another trip on March 9, 2013 departed the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos en route to London.

The passengers were Alison-Madueke, Abubakar Fari and Momoh. The jet returned to Nigeria on March 13 with the same passengers.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation had on Monday denied the allegation but said it had the legal right to own or charter an aircraft for its operations.

“This practice is common and acceptable in the local and international business environment in which it operates. There is nothing prohibiting the NNPC from owning or chartering an aircraft,” the NNPC had said in a statement by its Acting Group General Manager, Public Affairs Division, Omar Ibrahim.