The National Chairman of the Labour Party, Julius Abure, advised the party’s lawmakers in the National Assembly not to ride in the opulent official vehicles being planned for lawmakers, but the lawmakers disregarded his advice.
A Sport Utility Vehicle worth N160 million would be purchased for each lawmaker, according to a statement made by Abure on Monday.
Abure urged lawmakers chosen on the Labour Party platform not to participate in the wasteful spending, calling the alleged plan insensitive and unacceptable given the dire economic situation in the nation.
Ngozi Okolie, a lawmaker for Delta Aniocha North and South, responded that Abure’s demands were unreasonable, especially since he had not yet given them any other options for carrying out their duties, when asked on Thursday whether LP lawmakers would comply with what Abure had demanded.
According to the LP lawmaker, “The SUVs are meant to help us in our jobs as lawmakers, particularly with regard to our oversight functions.
“He may claim that the economy is weak, but having one official vehicle for use by federal lawmakers isn’t a luxury; it’s a necessity”
Okolie observed that although state-level politicians benefit more than federal lawmakers, Nigerians were quick to criticize lawmakers over issues like these.
In contrast to National Assembly members, who only receive one car each, he said, “Commissioners and House of Assembly members receive up to two to three of these cars. Yet he (Abure) is complaining and telling us not to collect it. Does he have any for us to receive?
“Has Abure instructed the members in his state in Edo not to use the official vehicles given to them? Is he going to provide us with the tools we need to do our jobs? Or does he have a substitute for us?”
The lawmaker went on to say that purchasing those vehicles was less expensive than hiring one each time they needed to go on an inspection.
Similar to this, Senator Stainless Nwodo of Enugu State said President Bola Tinubu deserved praise for approving such vehicles for lawmakers. He represents the Igbo Etiti and Uzo-Uwani constituencies in that state.
Nwodo said, “National Assembly members should pray for the President and give him three ‘Gbosas’ for his magnanimity to the lawmakers.
“Nobody in the National Assembly is against the SUV, when the SUV comes, we will collect it and use it to bring more benefits to our constituencies; because in the real sense, it is for the constituents.”
The lawmaker added, “I don’t want to believe the chairman of the party said so, because did he give us any vehicle to do our jobs?
“Attributing his reason to economic hardship is pure blackmail. In the first instance, the vehicle is for each constituency, not the personal vehicle for the members.
“Also, we need these SUVs to ply the bad roads in our constituencies when we need to visit them and deliver goodies to them. This is why the Speaker and the Senate President decided that SUVs are better to visit our constituencies.
“My own stance is that I will take the SUV and use it to deliver dividends to my constituents.”
On his part, the lawmaker representing Edo South Senatorial District, Neda Imasuen, said he would wait for the vehicles to arrive before making a decision.
Senator Imasuen said, “I’d urge you to wait until that happens, then we will revisit the issue. I wouldn’t want to count my chickens before they hatch.
“Labour Party has eight senators out of 109 and about 35 in the House of Representatives out of 360. So, I don’t know if it would make any difference if the lawmakers in the party take it or not.
“I don’t think telling them to take or reject would make any difference, I don’t think it would affect anything.
“Having said that, we haven’t been given any vehicle yet, but they said they would give.”
