The Senate Wednesday slammed those criticising the plan of the 9th National Assembly to purchase Sport Utility Vehicles (SUV) for each of the 469 federal lawmakers at a total cost of N5.5 billion.
Public outcry over the move by management of the National Assembly had last month resulted into litigation against it in the court of law by some concerned citizens and social crusaders led by the Socio Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP).
However, justifying the move in an interview with journalists in his office, the Senate Leader, Yahaya Abdullahi, said it was highly insulting that some public commentators are criticising and kicking against the move.
According to him, there is nothing for anybody to cry over as far as the plan is concerned, because a serving senator and his counterpart in the House of Representatives deserves to have an official vehicle in the mode of a functional utility vehicle or Jeep.
He said: “To say that a senator of the Federal Republic cannot ride a jeep in Nigeria is an insult.
“The N5.5 billion is from the national Assembly fund and not money being sought from any other source. Besides, the scheme as it has always been with previous Assemblies, is a monetised one, requiring each of the lawmakers to pay back the cost of whatever vehicle given to them.
“The outcry over it is very unnecessary and insulting to the Institution of the National Assembly and status of the federal lawmakers. When I was a permanent secretary, I knew what ministers got; we cannot even compare ourselves with ministers because we are higher than the ministers.
“Go and tell the people that the work that we do is more than the work of ministers and as representatives of the people , money will spend on daily basis to all forms of indigent people, far outweighs whatever they as ministers or executive officers spend.”
He also said both chambers of the National Assembly were ready at anytime to engage any group of people in the polity on their operations and spending “in line with the principles of accountability and transparency the 9th National Assembly stands for.”
“Each of the ministers moves in convoy of three to four utility vehicles without anybody raising any eyebrow while some people, who either as a result of ignorance or mischief, always cry to high heavens anytime management of the National Assembly wants to buy just one utility vehicle for a lawmaker on the template of monetisation.”
He, however, commended the executive for rolling out the 2020-2022 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) “the basis upon which the 2020 budget proposals will be presented next month by President Muhammadu Buhari in moving the yearly budgetary cycle from May/June as it is presently to January to December every year.”
