Senators and members of the House of
Representatives will go home with the
operational vehicles of the National
Assembly currently in their possession as
the 7th Assembly winds down on Friday.
Each of the 109 senators has a Toyota Land
Cruiser Prado, commonly referred to as
‘jeep’, assigned to them for “operational”
purposes like carrying out committee and
oversight duties.
The story is the same at the House, where
each member has a 2011 model Toyota
Camry attached to them for operational
duties.
Apart from the operational vehicles,
principal officers, including the President of
the Senate and the Speaker of the House,
have additional vehicles assigned to them.
The Prado jeeps and Camry are properties
of the National Assembly that should have
ordinarily been left behind by the departing
legislators.
But, The PUNCH gathered on Tuesday that,
with the understanding of the management
of the legislature, the vehicles have been
valued, taking note of the years of
depreciation, to allow lawmakers who wish
to go home with them to do so by paying
30 per cent of the purchase price.
The money is to be deducted from the
severance package of the senators and the
House members.
Findings showed that in line with the
arrangement, the Prado jeeps, valued at the
market price of about N9m, would be given
away to senators for around N2.7m.
In the same vein, members of the House
will each part with about N1.9m to go home
with the Camry, valued at N6.5m.
An official of the National Assembly
management, who confirmed the “deal” to
The PUNCH in Abuja on Tuesday, said, “The
cars have been used for four years, so this
valuation has taken cognisance of the years
of depreciation.
“The vehicles are not taken away free of
charge and as a matter of fact, it is optional.
A lawmaker who does not want to go with
the vehicle will submit it to the National
Assembly and it will be so documented.
“The deduction will be done from their
severance package at source, which makes
it easier.
“It is a practice that has been on over the
years.”
Investigations also showed that, aside the
operational vehicles, each of the senators,
on resumption in 2011, was given 300 per
cent of their total basic salaries as car loans
and 300 per cent as housing allowance.
About 250 per cent was advanced to them
as furniture allowance.
Each of the senators, according to
investigations, is receiving N1.8m basic
salary monthly while the Senate President’s
basic salary per month, is N2m.
One of our correspondents learnt that the
car loan, which was about N6.5m per
senator and N7m for the senate president,
was used to buy a brand new Toyota
Camry car each.
The amount, according to a senior member
of staff of the National Assembly, was
deducted from the basic salaries of the
senators within two years.
The official, who spoke on condition of
anonymity because he was not authorised
to speak to the press, said the arrangement
was a departure from the past practice
whereby some senators went away with
their operational vehicles as parting gifts.
He said, “The loans were obtained for the
lawmakers through the banks where their
salary accounts are domiciled, hence the
bankers usually deduct certain percentage
agreed upon from their monthly payments
to service the car, housing and furniture
loans.”
Attempts to get an official reaction from the
Deputy Director of Information at the
National Assembly, Mr. Ishaku Dibal, were
unsuccessful as calls put through to his
mobile telephone did not connect.
However, the Deputy House Majority
Leader, Leo Ogor, confirmed that the
operational vehicles would be taken away
“but certainly not for free.”
Ogor explained that the “normal procedure”
was that the vehicles would be evaluated
and an agreed sum deducted from the
severance package of departing legislators.
“I don’t know what the amount will be; but I
know that the cars are not for free. The
management of the National Assembly will
work it out and communicate to members
accordingly”, he stated.
Investigations further revealed that
members of the House were also offered
the choice of taking home the plasma TV
sets in their offices on the condition that
they would pay 50 per cent of the purchase
price.
The PUNCH learnt that a 40-inch TV set for
example, was supplied for a contract sum
of N600,000 in 2011. This means a member
planning to take it home will pay N300,000
to the management of the legislature.
Another House official however disclosed to
The PUNCH that most members of the
House turned down the Tv set offer.
“They agreed to take the vehicles but almost
all of them rejected the offer of the Tv sets
on the grounds that they were too
expensive.”
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