Why the Nigerian Government Should Encourage Legislators to Remove Don Bugdet from Buying Vehicles

The Center for Open Leadership and Anticorruption, CACOL has described as unfair the action of the main members of the Ninth Assembly and other prominent government officials, proposing N5.5 billion for the purchase of luxury cars as part of the obligation to comply with its functions. and unfair to Nigerians.

NOG Media Officer Toyin Odofin, in a press statement signed on behalf of the Center’s president, Debo Adeniran stated: “Spending a huge sum of N5.55 billion to buy luxury cars for the senior members of the 9th Senate is unfair and unjust, denies the constitutional oath of office taken by members to perform their duties in the interests of the welfare and prosperity of Nigeria and its citizens, as contained in the Seventh Annex to the 1999 Nigerian Constitution (as amended).

This is the 20th year of this civil rule and this is called the Ninth Assembly but we have not registered much progress in terms of legislative morale, conscience, ethics and responsibility.

However, it was concluded that all legislators and some senior government officials in the National Assembly will spend no less than N50 million on cars. In a country that has several economic challenges, the oversight function of legislators should not be based on the purchase of luxury cars, where there are other things, such an amount of money can help fix the health and education sectors in the country.

Although, the Socio-Economic Rights and Responsibility Project (SERAP), BudgIT, Enough is Enough (EiE) and 6,721 concerned Nigerians have filed a lawsuit asking the Federal High Court to prevent the National Assembly Service Commission (NASS) from paying N5 .550 billion budgeted for the purchase of luxury cars for the senior members of the 9th Senate, and to prevent the Senate from raising the money until the Senate’s proposed downgrade.

The lawsuit was filed on Friday in the Federal High Court, Ikoyi and Lagos by Kolawole Oluwadare and supported by an emergency affidavit. However, no date has been set for the hearing of the lawsuit.

The Chief of CACOL added that “we must continue to denounce this action, because once they are silent they like it and then they go on believing that they have overwhelmed us. It is reprehensible and totally unacceptable.

The Nigerian people must not give up on this issue. Furthermore, we remain convinced that official corruption must be addressed, head-on, if Nigeria is to breathe a sigh of relief and revert from an apparent journey to economic and social doom. Hence our full commitment and support to the war against the corruption ogre, Howbeit, to the fight to achieve the objectives set by the current federal government and to live up to the wishes of the majority of Nigerians. “