The Nigerian Senate came under harsh criticisms by eminent Nigerians on Saturday for defying Nigerians, including President Muhammadu Buhari on the purchase of exotic vehicles.
Eminent Nigerians including the Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), Senator Femi Okurounmu and Dr. Junaid Mohammed, condemned the Senate for purchasing the vehicles.
The contractor in charge of delivering the vehicles, Lanre Shittu Motors, on Saturday confirmed that it had delivered “a lot of vehicles to the Senate.
It was gathered that the Senate had taken delivery of the exotic vehicles and that the deliveries were done from Lagos and Abuja.
The Group Executive Director, Lanre Shittu Motors, Mr. Taiwo Shittu, in an interview with one of our correspondents, stated that a lot of deliveries had been made to the Senate.
When asked to confirm if the Senate had taken delivery of the vehicles from his company, Shittu replied, “Yes, they’ve taken a lot of deliveries but the deliveries are handled from the head office. I’m in charge of commercials like trucks, equipment and buses for the company, but not deliveries that have to do with the cars.
“They are not taking delivery of commercial vehicles but they are taking passenger vehicles, although Toyota Hilux can be seen as a commercial vehicle. I can confirm to you that the Senate has taken delivery of some vehicles but I can’t give you the accurate number presently.”
Many Nigerians, including Buhari and former President Olusegun Obasanjo had a few months ago urged the National Assembly to shelve the plan to buy N330m exotic vehicles.
While advising the Senate, Buhari in his first media chat had said, “I turned down a N400 million bill for cars for the presidency, because the vehicles I am using are good enough for the next 10 years.”
Also, prominent Yoruba leader, Okurounmu, on Saturday described the purchase of the vehicles as disgraceful.
Okurounmu, who represented Ogun-Central senatorial district between 1999 and 2003, said the purchase of vehicles at a time when over 20 states could not pay salaries was callous.
He said, “If this is true, the action of the Senate is completely unpatriotic, callous and shows that they don’t care about the welfare of the Nigerians that they are supposed to be representing and they are only there to look after their own interests. They are selfish.
Also speaking, Sagay described the senators as a group of “shameless people” who are unfit to occupy public office.
Sagay said their profligate lifestyle was capable of causing poor Nigerians to revolt against the government.
He said, “It shows that we are dealing with a group of people that are totally incorrigible in their love for material things at the expense of Nigerians. They have no limit and have no sense of shame or restraint. They will go all out and continue to live in luxury and obscenity until they can ground Nigeria
“These people are unfit to hold public office. They are a disgrace to this country and somehow, if it was possible, I would want them to be shamed out of the National Assembly. They are unfit for that position and a disgrace to any civilised community.”
Lending his voice to the controversial acquisition of vehicles, a former Governor of Kaduna State, Balarabe Musa, wondered where the Senate got the funds to purchase the vehicles since the 2016 budget had not yet been passed.
Describing the incident as ‘mindlessness’, the former governor said the matter must be investigated by the relevant authorities.
He said, “Who authorised the purchase of the vehicles? The budget has not yet been approved so where did they get the money to buy the vehicles? Are they using the law which authorises the President to spend the equivalent of what was spent last year to buy the vehicles?
“Besides the mindlessness of such an act in the face of the economic crisis, why should lawmakers use their position to enrich themselves? Has the National Assembly allowed itself to be involved in illegality?”
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