NLC THREATENS SHOWDOWN WITH SENATORS OVER PROCUREMENT OF 108 JEEPS
Organised Labour has threatened a showdown with the Senate over the alleged procurement of 108 Toyota Land Cruiser Jeeps at an inflated cost of N35.1 million for each of the Senators.
The threat notice entitled, ‘Return these cars or face the people’, signed by Ayuba Wabba, NLC President, was released to newsmen in Abuja on Monday.
Wabba expressed concern over what he described as the insensitivity of the Senators to the current socio-economic challenges, deepening poverty and the misappropriation of public funds.
He said there was the need to ascertain the source of the money used for the procurement of the cars and whether it was appropriated for in the 2016 budget which is yet to be signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari.
“We consider appalling, insensitive and greedy the decision of the Senate to acquire 108 Toyota Land Cruiser jeeps (one for each member less the Senate President) after collecting car ‘loans’ in August last year for the same purpose. It is equally morally despicable and shameful that they are doing this after publicly admitting that the standing committees of the Senate were unable to perform their statutory functions due to paucity of funds.
“We at the Nigeria Labour Congress equally consider it a willful and grievous criminal act, the inflation of the unit cost of each of the cars by over a 100 per cent, as each car supposedly cost N35.1 million instead of N17 million.
“Besides this, Nigerians are keen to know from where they got money for the purchase of these cars without appropriation,” he insisted.
The NLC President who kicked against the high level of impunity being exhibited by the lawmakers, argued that the “defence offered by the Senate spokesperson, Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, was laughable and childish.
“According to him, Special Advisers use jeeps, why not Senators or do Nigerians expect them to trek to work? And in any case, cars are capital projects!
“Couldn’t this have been put to better use such as the constituency projects of these same Senators? At a time with severe economic challenges and deepening poverty in the land, can the Senate afford this level of reckless luxury and arrogance? The answer is, ‘No,;” he said.
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