N57.6BN SUVS: You’re Insensitive, Nigerians Slam Lawmakers

 …Unnecessary Waste Of Resources — Labour Party Chairman

…Populace Can’t Afford Food, Languishing In Abject Poverty — Ezekwesili, Uwazuruike

…They’re Official Vehicles, Not For Personal Use — NASS Spokesperson

 Nigerians have slammed the national legislators who received Prado SUV vehicles totalling N57.6 billion at a time when the government claims it cannot afford to raise the minimum salary of N30,000 monthly to workers. Worryingly, the vehicle fund could have been borrowed at a time when most Nigerians go to bed hungry, with a bag of 50 kg rice now costing N50,000. Many people have criticised the National Assembly’s actions as not only evil but also selfish and callous.

 Members of the National As­sembly’s two arms, the Sen­ate and the House of Repre­sentatives began receiving their brand new 2023 model Toyota Land Cruisers on October 16. It was discovered that female parliamentarians were given first priority in the distribution of the ve­hicles, with 12 of them having received theirs, while principal officers of the two houses are expected to be the last to receive theirs.

Recall that the NASS leadership an­nounced plans to purchase 109 2023 Toy­ota Land Cruiser models for senators and 360 2023 Toyota Prado models for mem­bers of the House of Representatives.

This news has sparked outrage and criticism among Nigerians, who believe that the acts of the government and leg­islators at a time when people are preach­ing prudence in governance are not only selfish but also evil and incompatible with the economy. They claim that this is the same government that is still travelling the world with a loan in hand. As things stand, inflation is on track to reach 30% by December 2023, but the government is only concerned with the comfort of a fortunate few who have found themselves in positions of power.

The former minister of education, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, and the Chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Julius Abure, were the first two Nigerians to condemn the National Legislators. Mrs. Ezekwesili chastised the National Assembly’s lead­ership for purchasing over 400 new auto­mobiles for members, claiming that such purchases were made at “the expense of meeting the basic needs of their citizens and driven on dangerous roads to im­press their hungry citizens.” She said on Twitter that the growing number of fam­ilies in the country that are financially troubled and unable to afford basic needs such as food, school fees, health care, and housing is heartbreaking.

“On a normal day now, as a Pastor’s family, we’re seeing an increase in the number of distress calls from people all over the country who are desperate for help.” Worse, previously steady families are now confronted with financial trou­bles. We now heave a collective sigh of re­lief when my husband, Pastor Chinedu, and I have exhausted our monthly ability to help others. It has a significant impact on us. It’s terrible to observe how the country struggles to meet basic needs like food, school fees, health care, and shelter.

“And we are not alone in this. Many people are suffering from the misery of having too many people they cannot help no matter how hard they try. The best as­sistance citizens may receive is from a government that works on fundamental changes that spark economic growth be­cause retail assistance is merely a stop­gap in the hierarchy of social safety nets.

“Shouldn’t it be what keeps these ostensibly “political leaders” awake at night? No, their main priority is to be seen in a New Toyota SUV purchased at the price of satisfying their inhabitants’ fundamental needs and driven on dan­gerous roads in order to impress their hungry citizens. I have a message from the Lord for you this morning: Because you are all deaf, you will undoubtedly learn the hard way someday soon.

“You all had the audacity to spend scarce public resources on luxury cars at a time the majority of your citizens can­not feed, transport themselves, pay school fees and hospital bills due to cost of living crisis?,” she wrote via her Twitter page.

The Labour Party did not only con­demn the acquisition of the vehicles by the legislators but asked its elected members in the House of Representa­tives to “kick against” official vehicles. Chairman of the party, Julius Abure, in a statement in Abuja, called on the Labour Party legislators in the 10th Assembly to “kick against this unnecessary wastage of resources in line with the ideology of the party which is social justice and equal opportunity for all.”

However, in a statement, Abure said: “A few days ago, the news filtered that 360 members of the House of Assem­bly are to be gifted with vehicles worth about N160 million each. The Labour Party is indeed shocked, saddened and disappointed at the level of insensitivity being displayed by the executive and the legislative arms of the President Bola Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress administration.

“It is saddening that with deepening poverty among Nigerians the adminis­tration has decided to increase its appe­tite for a life of opulence to mock hard­working but underprivileged Nigerians. How else can any Government justify the bloated Federal Executive Council of 48 cabinet ministers, with each of them given three luxurious four-wheel drive vehicles on the first day in office, paid for and fueled by taxpayers? This is notwith­standing hundreds of presidential and ministerial aides, as well as numerous aides to the aides who are being funded by the government.

“These vehicles will be costing Ni­gerians about N57.6 billion and this is happening at a time when the govern­ment claims it cannot afford to increase the minimum wage of N30,000 monthly to workers. A bag of 50 kg rice is today N50,000 and most families can’t afford two square meals a day, how insensitive can a Government become? This same govern­ment is still going around the world cap in hand seeking loans, what a shame. As things stand today, inflation is likely to hit 30 per cent by December 2023, yet all they are concerned about is the comfort of a privileged few who found themselves in public office,” Abure emphasised.

Chief Jerry Obasi, a former gover­norship candidate of the All Progres­sive Grand Alliance (APGA) in Ebonyi State, said the idea of buying 360 SUVs for House of Representatives members is regrettable and demonstrates insensitiv­ity to the situation of Nigerians. He stat­ed that because Nigerians are suffering from economic hardship, the common expectations for people elected to repre­sent them include sacrifice rather than immorality.

Obasi noted that the administration of President Bola Tinubu is heard can­vassing economic revival but is seen dam­aging the economy through the window. “It is insensitive to spend tens of billions of naira on this Father Christmas show while the rest of Nigerians are wallowing in poverty.” Perhaps all he needs to do is curry the favour of the legislative branch and coax them into line. Yes, we have al­lies in the House, but Nigeria should not be offered as a sacrifice to anyone. Con­sider the fuel situation: refineries are not operating. “I believe this government is on the decline,” he remarked.

According to Ogbonnaya Timothy, a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief­tain, the action amounts to theft of cash, which will have a major negative influ­ence on the nation’s economy, “where a paint of garri is N1200, a sachet of water going to N50 each?” He explained that spending such a large lot of money on an SUV for a small number of Nigeri­ans without questioning the impact on the welfare of those they represent is risky. The Nigerian economic condition should concern everyone and should be prioritised over the pleasure of a few,” he remarked.

According to Adewale Adeoye, Execu­tive Director of Journalists for Democrat­ic Rights (JODER), and Femi Aborishade, a legal practitioner, parliamentarians must be careful not to destabilise Nige­ria and must be sensitive to the situation of Nigerians.

Aborishade condemned the plan to acquire cars worth roughly N200 mil­lion for each member of the House of Representatives.

His words: “At a time when the Fed­eral Government is imposing economic hardship by removing subsidies that have driven up the cost of living in an un­precedented way, the same Federal Gov­ernment is increasing the privileges of members of the ruling class.” It should be noted that the Federal Government only recently offered a palliative gift of N70 bil­lion to federal MPs. All of this indicates that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s ad­ministration governs in the interests of members of the ruling class rather than the well-being of regular people.

“Additionally, increasing privileges come at the expense of increasing foreign loans with high-interest rates.” There is no economic rationale for such misdi­rected spending that caters to the ruling class’s avarice while the masses languish in subject poverty. “A regime that claims it has no money to fund education, a regime that has allowed an increase in tertiary school fees, a government that claims it has no money to pay a living wage, and so on, should not be so callous as to buy luxury cars for legislators.”

According to Goddy Uwazurike, a La­gos-based lawyer, the economic implica­tions are enormous, and Nigeria’s work­ing class is still reeling from the shock of the increase in petrol prices, the inade­quacy of the current wage structure, and the Federal Government’s never-ending dribbling of the NLC. “Nigerians have been opposing the All Progressive Con­gress (APC)’s weaponisation of poverty since 2015. Currently, production has reduced substantially as a result of Ni­gerians’ trouble getting to work.”

Uwazurike added that the country is still suffering from economic degradation to the point where the Naira value is fall­ing into the abyss. “Now, the same APC government that advocated for restruc­turing is raising the cost of governance. Make no mistake: the newly appointed members of the administration, like the legislators, will be rewarded with luxu­rious SUVs.”

While Comrade Femi Lawson, National Secretary Campaign for De­mocracy, chastised NASS members for being insensitive to Nigerians’ plight, Chief Abayomi Kuye, a Peoples’ Demo­cratic Party (PDP) chieftain and former member of the party’s South-West care­taker committee, claimed that the All Progressives Congress (APC) is leading a clueless government at the executive and legislative arms of government at the national level.

In an interview with the Saturday INDEPENDENT, Lawson stated, “They are buying the latest model of Toyota Land Cruiser for members of the Na­tional Assembly. Members of the House of Representatives and several Senators are involved. As I speak with you, we have confirmed from reliable sources that sev­eral members have already received vehi­cles from this allocation. Ordinary people are being forced to tighten their belts at a time when the country’s economy is fal­tering. At a time when the country has just removed subsidies from the single product from which Nigeria benefits, bil­lions of naira are being spent on luxury by members.”

Chief Kuye, on his part, said he is not surprised by the National Assembly members’ actions since the APC govern­ment is ignorant. “The government is clueless, insensitive, and offers Nigerians nothing. It is a riotous government. What do you expect from a National Assembly that is dominated by a party that has ap­pointed over 170 aides? This morning, a dollar is worth more than N1,100. As a result, everyone in the National Assem­bly is working on their own. They do not speak for the majority,” Kuye stated.

Reacting to the issue, House Spokes­person and Chairman of the House Com­mittee on Media and Public Affairs, Akin Rotimi, said in a statement in Abuja: “It is important to make a few clarifications. The vehicles to be allocated to the offices of members are utility operational vehi­cles tied to their oversight functions in the discharge of their duties in the standing committees. They are not personal vehi­cles gifted to honourable members.”

However, Ogbonnaya Timothy, on the other hand, claimed that the justification is a sham and that “the executive arm of government should also be blamed for riding in this journey of reckless insen­sitivity. This is despotism, this is reckless­ness.”

According to Mr Adeoye of JOD­ER, Nigeria would only recover from the enormous cost of governance if it demonstrates more fiscal discipline, bat­tles corruption, and cleans up the Central Bank of Nigeria.

(Daily Independent)