Senate defends its members’ use of luxury vehicles by claiming, Nigerian roads unsafe.

The Senate has approved spending $365,000 on 360 SUVs for its members.

The Red Chamber reportedly declined to comment on the prices of the vehicles but did say that its members favoured foreign SUVs over domestically produced ones.

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project had already filed injunction motions with a Federal High Court in Lagos, asking that the lawmakers be prevented from receiving the SUVs awaiting the outcome of those proceedings.

After hearing that representatives in Congress were planning to spend N57.6 billion on SUVs, the organisation moved quickly to file applications for interim and interlocutory injunction. Each SUV would reportedly cost around N160 million.

Sunday Karimi, chairman of the Senate Committee on Services, responded to the news at a press conference today, saying that Nigerians were unfairly targeting senators while disregarding ministers who received an average of four government vehicles each.

A minister, Karimi added, “has more than three Land Cruisers, Prados, and other vehicles, and you are not asking them questions, why us?”

Even if I only make one trip back to my senatorial district in Nigeria today, I wind up spending a lot of money on my vehicles due to the poor condition of the roads there.

When asked why we settled on Land Cruisers, I mentioned their low price and long lifespan.

To elaborate, he said, “Before they came up with this. We studied, and arrived at Land Cruisers independently of the senators’ decisions.

The cost of technical problems and longevity on Nigerian highways were compared.

As the speaker put it, “We want something that we can maintain for another four years, and the issue of buying vehicles from the National Assembly, you know, is a recurring issue, it occurs every assembly, and it will always come up.”

The politician went on to say that state assembly members had access to government vehicles even at the state level.

“If you got to state Houses of Assembly today, check out, most of them before they were even inauguration, the governor would have bought vehicles waiting for them, even local government chairmen,” Karimi continued.

Why did you send me to the National Assembly while I drove the vehicle used by my local government chairman?

Karimi explained that the National Assembly owed the suppliers around N16bn, which contributed to the exorbitant price of the vehicles.

‘I am the chairman of, the senate service,’ he proclaimed. A total of almost N16 billion, spread over various vehicles from the 7th, 8th, and 9th Assemblies, was disclosed to me upon my arrival in the Senate.

You’re a businessman who supplied vehicles to a client in 2014 or 2015 and has been waiting to be paid for some time.

I’m not trying to defend anyone here, but if you see people selling Land Cruisers for, say, A cost, you wouldn’t expect a supplier to do business at that price.

The government’s procurement office mandated a 25% profit margin, and I believe the value-added tax rate in the UK is 7.5%. They will still take 5% tax out of your 25% profit.

“You are telling someone to supply and he may even end up not making payment for three years and you want him to supply at the price they are selling in the market, it is not possible.”