The Senate and the House of Representatives on
Saturday said they would go ahead with the purchase
of exotics for its members.
Members of both chambers of the National Assembly,
who spoke to our correspondent separately, stated
that lawmakers needed the vehicles to function
efficiently.
The Senate plans to procure cars worth about N4.7bn,
the House will spend between N3.4bn and N4.2bn on
choice brands for its 360 members.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public
Affairs, Senator Sabi Abdullahi, told one of our
correspondents that the leadership of the upper
chamber was expecting the invitation of President
Muhammadu Buhari over the plan to purchase ‘project
vehicles’ for the use of the various committees.
Buhari had during the last presidential media chat
pledged to initiate a meeting with the leadership of the
National Assembly on the issue but the parley had yet
to hold several weeks after.
But the Senate spokesperson said since the proposed
meeting was an initiative of the President, the leaders
of the red chamber would wait until they were invited.
Abdullahi said, “There is no way we won’t buy the
project vehicles for the use of the committees. It is
the consideration of the 2016 budget at both
chambers that has delayed it. The money has to be
appropriated for. We are still buying the vehicles”
He added, “There is no way we can exercise our
legislative functions especially in the area of oversight,
using our personal cars.
“We need official vehicles to move around the country
because we do not have to rely on government
agencies under our supervision for such logistics if we
really have to carry out an unbiased exercise.
“Nigerians should also note that we are not asking for
too much by requesting for Sport Utility Vehicles as
official vehicles because there is no senator or
members of the House of Representatives that cannot
afford one. To us, it’s not a luxury but a necessity to
do our work better.”
Also, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Works,
Senator Kabiru Gaya, said it was important for the
National Assembly management to buy the project
vehicles for lawmakers who would need them to carry
out oversight functions.
He said, “ I don’t know what people mean by exotic
cars because I have personal vehicles that are better
than what the National Assembly is proposing to buy
for us.
“You will find out that a minister uses four cars. They
fuel those four cars for any of his trips. Senators get
vehicles once in four years and any vehicle used on
Nigerian roads for four years cannot be handed over to
another senator to use. It is not possible.
“We are asking for only one car for our official use, to
do our oversight, to go round the country. I don’t see
anything wrong with that.”
Also, the Senate Leader, Senator Ali Ndume, said
Buhari was not opposed to the National Assembly
purchasing cars to carry out official assignments.
He said, “There is no way the executive will expect us
to use our personal vehicles to do official work in the
legislature.
“The problem is that the media is blowing the issue
out of proportion. The amount being quoted was a far
cry from what would be needed to purchase the
vehicles.”
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Gas Resources,
Senator Bassey Akpan, also said the purchase of
project vehicles was crucial to the success of the
parliament, if the nation was really interested in quality
legislative activities.
He stated that a lawmaker needed more than a vehicle
to effectively carry out his or her oversight functions
across the country.
For the House of Representatives, findings showed
that aside the 360 units (one to each member),
additional customised vehicles would be added to the
fleet of the Speaker, Mr. Yakubu Dogara; the Deputy
Speaker, Mr. Yusuf Lasun; the Majority Leader, Mr.
Femi Gbajabiamila ; the Chief Whip, Mr. Alhassan Ado-
Doguwa; the Minority Leader, Mr. Leo Ogor, and other
principal officers in both the majority and minority
caucuses of the House.
A senior official of the House told one of our
correspondents that it also depended on the passage
of the 2016 budget by the National Assembly.
The source said, “We are waiting for the budget to be
passed. All the votes for the year are captured in the
budget. As soon as the budget is passed and funds
are released, the issue of cars should become a thing
of the past.
“We are over-flogging this car issue as if it is the most
important challenge facing our nation today.”
The Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public
Affairs, Mr. Abdulrazak Namdas, was emphatic that
the House would buy cars for its members as it had
been the tradition over the years.
He confirmed that lack of funds had put the car
project on hold for a while.
Namdas said, “There are no releases yet; we are
waiting for money.
“What is a fact is that the House will certainly buy
operational vehicles for members to use while going
on oversight visits.
“We have explained repeatedly that these cars are the
property of the National Assembly. We do not expect
members to trek to project sites for inspection.
“Or, are we saying that the same agencies we are to
oversight should provide vehicles to convey members
to sites?
“We have to appreciate the need to seriously empower
the legislature to function as an independent arm of
government in a democracy.”

www.punchng.com/no-going-back-on-project-vehicles-senators-reps/

When the call for #5k allawee for each unemployed Nigerians came up,these same lawbreakers screamed"nay!.Now that they make budget for illegal acquisition of cars for them at an outrageous sum,esp now that the economy is dwindling,they are saying"no going back"The #5k for each unemployed citizens is not up to the prices of 3 BMW cars.Parasites.

Nigerians this is ur change.

Enjoy it.

God bless nigeria!
people dont know corruption actually helps d economy, esp when the money is invested in nigeria. the only thing bad abt corruption is when the money is being laundered to other countries. to me I prefer a corrupt govt that the market women, traders, artisans, welders, contractors, omoniles n all third class citizens will smile to d banks weekly cos of patronage from these corrupt politicians not a tight fisted man that preaches corruption but is still corrupt n the citizenry suffers from no money, untimely payment of salaries, no subventions n other packages.

yaki84:
God bless nigeria!
people dont know corruption actually helps d economy, esp when the money is invested in nigeria. the only thing bad abt corruption is when the money is being laundered to other countries. to me I prefer a corrupt govt that the market women, traders, artisans, welders, contractors, omoniles n all third class citizens will smile to d banks weekly cos of patronage from these corrupt politicians not a tight fisted man that preaches corruption but is still corrupt n the citizenry suffers from no money, untimely payment of salaries, no subventions n other packages.

So what are you saying, we should encourage corruption...? How did we get this low as Nigerians to the point where we don't see anything wrong in corruption? Is buhari not right then to say some Nigerians are criminals?

Until Nigerians understand that we don't need this bloodthirsty senators, who only care about their pockets, we can never move forward as a nation