The
Chairman of Senate Committee on Land Transport has said the reported
new vehicles worth N4.7 Billion are not personal vehicles to
legislators, maintaining that they are meant for oversight functions.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Monday, Senator
Gbenga Ashafa, said that “I must tell you that issues were raised and
like any government arm, what you find out is that you can only manage
whatever is given to you in the budget. “Let me go further by explaining
that there is no new vehicle for any legislator as I’m speaking with
you. “But for those who came in, whether first, second or third term,
the vehicles some of them used at their previous administrations, were
sold out to them at the current price that was prevailing. The money for
the cars sold, would go back to the system”, he said. The Senator
further shed more light into the transport loans and car allowance
allocated to legislators. “The revenue mobilisation and fiscal
commission had in place the remuneration allowances and salaries of
legislators. “Whoever comes in as Senate President or occupy any
leadership position at the Senate, will have to comply with all those
indices in the remuneration package”, he explained. Answering a question
on how members of the National Assembly are looking critically at
reducing their budgets, Senator Ashafa said that “I can give you for a
fact that whatever is necessary to do in order to sacrifice in ensuring
that the budget is lean, transparent and workable as far as President
Muhammadu Buhari is concerned, we will buy into it. “President Buhari
had promised that he would have a closed door session with us, we are
waiting for that and we will will be transparent about whatever will be
discussed in the meeting. “If the consensus is that, this vehicle issue
should be desiccant, so be it. We are ready to sacrifice for the sake of
moving this country ahead”, he added. President Buhari had frowned at
plans by the National Assembly to buy over 400 new vehicles worth N4.7
billion at a time the nation is facing cash crunch. The President
criticised the plan on Wednesday, December 30, during his first
televised Presidential Media chat, saying he had rejected a plan to buy
new vehicles for himself in the 2016 budget estimates. “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”, he said.
Tuesday, 5 January 2016
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