110bn SUVs Procurement: Respect Separation of Powers, Pro-Democracy Group Tells Critics of N’ Assembly
A pro-democracy group, the Advocates of Social Justice for All (ASJA), has warned civil society groups and critics of the National Assembly over the controversial N110 billion reportedly spent on the procurement of official vehicles and support allowances for lawmakers in 2023, to stop undermining the institution of the Parliament.
A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos had, penultimate Wednesday, declared that the sum of N40 billion used to procure 360 Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) for members of the House of Representatives, and 109 SUVs for Senators; and the sum of N70 billion used for support allowances for the newly inaugurated members of the 10th National Assembly, as appropriated in the 2022 supplementary budget, did not meet the standard procurement laws.
Declaring the appropriation and expenditure of the total sum of N110bn by the National Assembly as “unlawful”, Justice Yellim Bogoro ordered the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, “to ensure that all future procurements or expenditure of public funds by the National Assembly comply strictly with due process requirements and are also guided by the principles of transparency, accountability and value for money.”
