The Senate says they are utility cars, and they don’t belong to senators. They were already bought before we became senators.”
By Deborah Hassan
365Daily – The senator representing the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Ireti Kingibe, has exonerated the 10th Assembly from involvement in the purchase of special utility vehicles (SUVs) worth N57 billion.
According to her, the 9th Senate purchased the vehicles, while members of the 10th Assembly simply took delivery of them.
The Godswill Akpabio-led Senate has been under intense heat from Nigerians for buying SUVs to be distributed to well paid lawmakers while Nigerians struggle to feed due to rising food prices, transportation, and others.
Speaking on Arise TV on Wednesday evening, she stated, “The Senate says they are utility cars, and they don’t belong to senators. They were already bought before we became senators.
“I think that going forward, I think this 10th senate might opt to buy cheaper cars made in Nigeria or whatever; I don’t know, but you can hold us responsible for the cars that the 11th Assembly rides, but the ones that we got were purchased and sorted out by the 9th Assembly.
“The only thing that is being done is that they are being distributed to us. The truth of the matter is that I suppose more attention is being paid because the bulk of the people are poorer, but every National Assembly is always provided with utility cars.”
“People are under the misconception that the basic salary of a senator is a lot. It’s not as much. But so far, I’ve been a senator; in the next week or two, it will be maybe 6 months, because there’s such intense poverty out there, a lot of it goes for palliatives. Oh, I have no food; I need to do this, so a lot of that goes there,” Kingibe said.