Cosmas Maduka, whose auto dealership, Coscharis Motors, was involved in a shady car purchase deal by former Aviation Minister, Stella Oduah, apparently tried to offer Pastor Tunde Bakare of the Latter Rain Assembly a Rolls Royce Phantom during the pastor’s 60th birthday celebration, SaharaReporters has learnt. Coscharis Motors had presented invoices to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) claiming to have supplied two bulletproof BMW cars for the use of Ms. Oduah at the cost of $800,000 per car.
Mr. Bakare, a fiery pastor who was a former vice presidential running mate of Muhammadu Buhari, told his congregation in Lagos that he woke up early one day during the commissioning of a new branch of his church to find the expensive luxury car at his doorsteps.
He said he rejected the gift, stating that his interest was in good governance, adding that it would have been unconscionable to accept the car while a majority of Nigerians continue to wallow in abject poverty.
In his talk to his congregation, Mr. Bakare described the rebuffed car gift as well as the luxurious nature of the Rolls Royce Phantom. “I was sitting at home one day and they brought in a brand new 2015 Rolls-Royce into my house. My 60th birthday was coming,” he said. “I looked at it, kai! This is awkward. When you open your car, your door goes this way, its own door goes that way. It clears the way so that there is nothing blocking your way.
“I saw a button. They said, ‘It is an umbrella, sir. It is on every door in case it is raining, you just push it and the umbrella comes out.’ I said: Na wa o. Then I said: Oya, leave this place.
“Where is the road that I will ride it upon? My heart is not in things like this. I asked my son to take a photograph of the brand new car as a proof,” the pastor stated.
SaharaReporters confirmed from a source close to Mr. Bakare that the car came from Coscharis Motors. However, we could not ascertain whether it was an attempted gift from Mr. Maduka or whether someone else had paid the dealership to purchase the Roll Royce for the pastor.
