Police, INEC, FRSC, 7 Other MDAs Splurge N21bn on Vehicles in Five Months
- A report by the Bureau of Public Procurement has disclosed how N21.1bn was used to buy vehicles for ministries and others
- According to the report, Messrs Kaura and Wada were paid N1.91 billion to buy 43 vehicles for the ICPC
- Also, several contractors were paid N4.5 billion to buy an unknown number of vehicles for the Nigerian Police Trust fund
Within five months, N21.1bn was spent on vehicle purchases for several ministries, departments, and agencies.
According to these approvals found in a document obtained from the Bureau of Public Procurement, 10 agencies received the payment from April through August of 2023.
Source: UGC
Police, ICPC, INEC, others benefit from the largesse
Punch reported that those that benefited from the payments include the Nigerian Police Trust Fund, the Independent Corruption Practises Commission, the Federal Road Safety Corps, the Independent National Electoral Commission, and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Commission.
In the report, the Bureau stated that N1.91 billion was paid to Messrs Kaura and Wada to buy 43 vehicles for the Independent Corruption Practises Commission, while N4.5 billion was granted to several contractors to buy an unknown number of operational vehicles for the Nigerian Police Trust fund.
Also, N1.1 billion was given to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Commission.
The amount also included the purchase of N8.55 billion worth of cars and tow trucks for the Federal Road Safety Corps, N1.36 billion worth of work vehicles for the Transmission Commission of Nigeria, as well as N388.3 million and N835.2 million, respectively, for National Population Commission (NPC) and ICPC.
Notably, in 2020, former President Muhammadu Buhari gave the MDAs an order to purchase automobiles constructed or manufactured in Nigeria exclusively.
According to him, supporting regional automakers was to shield them from the initiative to eliminate import taxes.
"We are not giving up on the local auto industry," Buhari declared during his speech at the 26th Economic Summit.
Punch reported that there was still a deterrent to import since the tariff rate of 35% is still relatively high. Secondly, FG is advocating for a law requiring the government to purchase automobiles made in the country exclusively.
As a result, car importers benefited somewhat from political leaders' patronage even after this change.
Recently, the National Assembly's leadership decided to buy each lawmaker an imported SUV for N160 million and the principal officers' armoured cars.
The Senate justified the purchase of the SUVs, claiming that lawmakers required the vehicles for their operations despite the decision drawing harsh criticism.
Senator Murray-Bruce acquires made-in-Nigeria cars (photos)
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that the there was a lobby for Nigerians to patronise their products for the economy to increase positively and be diversified by a former Nigerian senator.
ex-Senator Ben Murray-Bruce, representing Bayelsa East senatorial constituency in the National Assembly decided to set the pace.
The former senator, who is trying to encourage Nigerians to buy Made-in-Nigeria products acquired Innoson cars.
Source: Legit.ng
