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.”
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