The Senate Committee probing the Aviation Sector would need to do all it could to get former Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, to tell all she knows about the N19billion scandal rocking the Aviation ministry, as it is clear the World Bank top gun was a principal actor in the disbursements of billions of aviation funds.

Specifically, the probe panel needs to know why she caused the Ministry of Aviation to take a loan of N6.5 billion from a commercial bank, Zenith, to fund the Safe Tower Project in defiance of the instruction by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) that the required fund be sourced from the Natural Resource Fund.

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Meanwhile, the Director of Engineering in the Nigeria Airspace Management Agency(NAMA), Godfrey Eze has been arrested by the EFCC. He was picked up on saturday for his role in the N6.5 Billion Safe Tower Project.

His two former bosses, Femi Fani-Kayode, and Babalola Borishade are to remain in prison till Monday when application fortheir bail would be heard.

Investigations revealed that the Senate probe of the Aviation Sector would not be meaningful until it was able to determine the role played by Alhaji Muhammed Yusuf who was the Managing Director/Chief Executive of FAAN in the sourcing and spending of the sum of N19.5 billion.

The testimony of Yusuf may seem to be necessary since he was once the Special Assistant to Okonjo Iweala, and more so because he was the official, who on August 25, 2006 sought the approval of the Ministry of Aviation to formalise the loan facility of N6.5 billion for the controversial aviation projects.

Incidentally, Okonjo Iweala ,who was implicated in the reports on the controversial Aviation Intervention Fund, stayed away from the Senate Public hearing on the issue despite being invited.

She was said to have shunned the panel’s sitting on the advice by some of the Senators as part of ploy to keep her away from being arrested just like the two former Aviation Ministers, Professor Babalola Borisade and Chief Femi Fani Kayode.

Sunday Tribune learnt that Okonjo Iweala’s successor as Finance Minister, Mrs. Nenadi Usman, who indeed turned up for the public hearing and gave her own testimony had to sneak out of the venue not long after she was done, having taken whispers from officials of the committee on the possibility of her arrest by the EFCC if she had stayed a little longer.

It is not certain whether or not the Senate Committee on Aviation would like to reckon with issues raised in different reports on the earlier probe of Aviation industry filed before it, whereas the reports; the first which was conducted by the Aviation Ministry and the office of the National Security Adviser had implicated Okonjo Iweala as responsible for the double funding of the Aviation Projects which is now the subject of controversy.

Highlights of a report by Captain Shehu Iyal, who headed the Committee that probed the funding of the Aviation Projects in 2006, revealed that it was rather the former Finance Minister who in April 2006 made a request to former President Olusegun Obasanjo for approval of N19.5 billion Aviation Intervention Fund.

According to the request made through a letter HMF/MF/003 and dated April 25, 2006, Iweala had suggested that the sourcing of the fund could be made by two means; through a consortium of Banks and through the Natural Resources Development Account, which at that period had N47 billion.

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Following the request, the former President approved that the Intervention Fund of N19.5billion should be sourced in accordance with Iweala’s recommendations, whereas, the former Minister on June 8 had written another memo to the president to suggest a change of sourcing of the fund.

Iweala in the letter suggested to the former President that the sum of N13 billion could only be sourced from the Natural Resource Fund which had N47 billion, while the balance according to her, could be financed by a commercial bank on behalf of FAAN for NAMA. Eventually, the N6.5 billion was negotiated and sourced from the Zenith Bank.

The loan expectedly was for a four- year tenure and at an interest rate of 13 per cent with management fee of 0.2 per cent; whereas the negotiation for the loan was reportedly done without the involvement of NAMA.

Notwithstanding, the agreement on the loan was reportedly signed undated by Alhaji Yusuf in his capacity as the MD, FAAN and his counterpart in NAMA, Mr. Roland Iyayi. The entire loan agreement was taken on behalf of NAMA while the FAAN was to serve as the guarantor.

With the agreement, the NAMA was committed to repaying the loan to the tune of N560 million quarterly to FAAN while the NAMA was expected to pay Zenith Bank the sum of N537,451,15 quarterly.