Ebun Francis || The House of Representatives is to spend N6.1 bn for the purchase of vehicles for its members even as the country grapples with one of the most hurting recession in recent times.
Already, over two hundred units of the Peugeot 508 vehicles have been delivered to the house by Automobile Nigeria Limited (PAN).
House spokesman, Abdulrazak Namdas told newsmen in Abuja on Sunday that the rest of the vehicles would be supplied before the end the year.
According to Namdas, the vehicles, ordered since April last year at the initial contract of N10 million each, was reviewed to N17m per unit, totaling N6.1 billion due to challenges related to fluctuating exchange rates between the naira and the US dollar.
As at last week, it was gathered that only about 170 of the vehicles were supplied even as there was no specific date for the supply of the remaining ones.
But Namdas said: “Over 200 have been supplied out of 360, and we are still getting more. Every member will get their car by the end of this year. The issue is that the payment for the vehicle is being done in instalments.
“The House and the company, PAN, have reached an agreement to this arrangement of paying and supplying in instalments.
“Of course not all the members can get their cars at the same time, and we have explained to them (lawmakers) why this cannot be possible,” he said.
“We never promised to supply the 360 vehicles at once because of the financial constraints.
“The budget implementation hasn’t commenced and that is the reason for the installment supply of the vehicles. But, since it was provided for in the budget, every member will get theirs before the year runs out.
“Complaints by some members is normal because the House is huge and it is normal for some to complain. But, since we are getting the cars in batches, it will be impossible for everyone to get at once.
“Allegation that women lawmakers and committee chairmen were given first was also not true.
“As a matter of fact, it was the decision of the leadership to provide for the new members first. So, you may have a new member having while a committee chairman like myself don’t have yet.
“The distribution was not meant to marginalise anyone; the leadership wasn’t choosy about the distribution. Everyone will be adequately taken care of before the year runs out.”
Namdas said the major cog in the wheel of the supply was paucity of funds, saying “You know that we have not started the implementation of the 2017 budget fully. You will appreciate the fact that payment for these cars will come from the budget.”
The House spokesman also pleaded with Nigerians to understand why house members need the vehicles, stating that there are levels lawmakers should not be allowed to descend to.
He said, “Definitely, chief executive and directors in government institutions and agencies have official vehicles attached to them. Why would lawmakers not enjoy same privilege?
“Our job here is to make laws for good governance and that is what we are doing and we need peace of mind and the goodwill of Nigerians to accomplish this,” he added.