President Jonathan Set To Retain Oduah

With the submission of 12 ministerial nominees to the Senate for screening on Tuesday by President Goodluck Jonathan, there are indications that Stella Oduah, the controversial Minister of Aviation, may retain her position in the Federal Executive Council, contrary to the expectations of most Nigerians.

It was learnt that the 12 nominees will fill the 12 vacant positions in the Federal Executive Council.

P.M.NEWS also gathered that despite the public outcry against Oduah, the President is not contemplating her removal for now.

It was gathered that apart from his conviction that the minister is doing a good job in the aviation sector, the President has also come under tremendous pressure from leading Igbo groups and personalities who argued that Oduah is being unduly persecuted.

There is also the factor of the 2015 election in the retention of Oduah in the position. Just like she did in 2011, it was gathered that Oduah is getting set to roll out the campaign structure of Neighbour to Neighbour for President Jonathan’s re- election.

There have been agitations for the sack of Oduah over the series of scandals that have dogged her tenure as a minister. There was a general uproar last year when information emerged that the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA a parastatal under the Aviation Ministry bought two armoured BMW cars for at the price of N255 million.

Sahara Reporters, an online news media had reported that its invesigations revealed that  Oduah’s claim in her profile on the Federal Ministry of Aviation’s website that she obtained a Master’s degree in Business Administration from St. Paul’s College in Lawrenceville, Virginia in 1982, is  false.

Since the news broke that she did not obtain a MBA degree from the college, several attempts had been made to edit her resume and profile on different online platforms. The Minister has refused to deny the certificate forgery allegation. But her aides had embarked on feverish alterations of the profiles of the Minister on Wikipedia and other online sources to remove the reference to the qualification following the story. There were calls for her removal following the story.