Controversy is trailing the decision to auction at least 11 official vehicles belonging to the National Gallery of Art, Abuja.
According to a petition submitted to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, titled ‘Fraudulent disposal/auction of project vehicles of the National Gallery of Arts to cronies of the Director-General: Need to urgently stop current auction of fresh vehicles’, by one Buhari Ahmed, the DG, Mr Ebeten Iwara, was accused of auctioning the vehicles to “pacify his cronies.”
The petition dated November 15, 2021, read in part, “The said vehicles are in good condition and presently in use by the directors, who are also expected to be beneficiaries of the sales.
“This has been the corrupt trend in the gallery where government vehicles are labelled as unserviceable even when they are in good conditions and auctioned at ridiculous prices and as scraps below 20 per cent of their initial cost.”
The petitioner alleged that although the gallery had no new vehicles, the only available ones were about to be auctioned as scraps.
The vehicles sold in 2020 include a Mercedes Benz white truck, Lexus 570 SUV, five Toyota Hilux vans, four Toyota Avensis, a blue Toyota Camry 2007 model and a Toyota Hiace bus.
The vehicles include six 2016 model Toyota Corolla vehicles used by the departments of educational services, research and planning, curatorial services, monitoring and documentation, admin and staff development, finance and account, and special duties.
The list also includes a 2015 model Toyota Prado black SUV used by the DG; the same vehicle was refurbished in August 2020 by the Director of Finance and Account and handed over to the DG as an official vehicle when he resumed in September 2020.
Two Toyota Coaster buses and two Peugeot Expert Space Wagons are also part of the 11.
The petition further read, “The gallery now hires project vehicles and Hilux pick up vans for exhibitions and other projects. The level of impunity and corruption in the gallery has hit high and staff members are crying out for rescue.
“It is suspicious to note that all those vehicles are disposed of in quick succession within two years. With the creation of new zonal offices, no project vehicles will be available for the operations of those areas. Also, 26 outstations of the NGA do not have a single vehicle for operations.”
The petitioner, therefore, prayed the ICPC to investigate the state of the vehicles sold in 2020 and to ascertain if they were truly certified and qualified as scraps; to recall all sales already carried out, return all vehicles to gallery’s head office and distribute them to the 26 outstations; to stop the current auction/disposal of the remaining vehicles of the gallery; and bring all culprits to justice.
When contacted to respond to the allegations, Iwara asked if our correspondent was interested in acquiring any of the vehicles.
He declined to comment on the questions raised and attempts to reach him for an in-person meeting were rebuffed.
Meanwhile, the acting Head of the Public Enlightenment Department of the ICPC, Azuka Ogugua, told our correspondent that the anti-graft agency is currently investigating the matters outlined in the petition.
“A petition is a report of a possible criminal offence. If at all it has been submitted to the ICPC as you said, rest assured that the matters outlined are under investigation. But we don’t do media trials at the ICPC. And I cannot give details of the issue at this time,” she said.
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