POLITICS:-Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki Respond To N330m Car Purchase Saga

Following the barrage of criticism that has trailed the new vehicles
purchased for the Senate President, the Office of the Senate President
has now issued an official
statement in reaction to the claims made by PREMIUM
TIMES in their exclusive story about the N330 million new
cars Dr. Saraki purchased.

SOURCE:-Oluniyi Hisamotu | Topup9ja Staff
Reacting to the claim, Yusuph Olaniyonu, the Special
Adviser to the Senate President stated that it was wrong for
the publication to classify vehicles provided for security
agencies like the Police and State Security Service by the
National Assembly management for their operations as
vehicles bought for the Senate President.

The Statement reads:
It is an obvious fact that the official and spare cars
that the Senate President inherited and has been
using are old and have been malfunctioning. There
are instances like the day Dr. Saraki visited Keffi for
the marriage of the daughter of Senator Abdullahi
Adamu and another day at the Presidential wing of
the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport that the
spare vehicle broke down. In both instances, the
spare vehicle did not return home with the convoy.
The same vehicle had malfunctioned at the
Presidential Villa and National Mosque on different
occasions. It is for this reason that the Senate
President approved that instead of providing two
vehicles for him as he is entitled, only one should
be bought to replace the official vehicle while the
old official car should be converted to spare car.
Also, if the National Assembly Management chose to
provide operational vehicles for Security Agencies,
should that be presented as if they are personal or
official vehicles meant for the use of Dr. Saraki?
These are vehicles that cannot be used for other
purposes and by other people. The Senate President
also have no control over the security vehicles.
It is also surprising that despite the fact that
Premium Times in the same story reported that the
order for the vehicle was made in December, it
chose to calculate the value of the vehicles based on
current exchange rate of the Naira to the dollar. This
is obviously a mischief aimed at making the figure
look huge and justify the screaming headline.
The press should avoid deliberately inciting
members of the public against public officials. The
Senate President and his colleagues are conscious of
the economic situation in the country and will
continue to act responsibly and responsively.
Just last week, Dr. Saraki was informed that the
Ministry of FCT in its 2016 budget proposed a N6
billion estimate for the construction of the official
residence of the Senate President. He outrightly
rejected the proposal and directed Senator Dino
Melaye, Chairman, Senate Committee on FCT to
bring down the cost to one billion Naira. He said
that it should be made known to the Ministry that if
it cannot construct the building with N1 billion then
they should leave out the project entirely till after
his tenure. He said he will rather stay in his present
abode. Senator Melaye had already acted as
instructed as indicated in the report his committee
presented to the Appropriation Committee.
It should therefore be noted that if Dr. Saraki can
demonstrate frugality and responsible leadership in
a matter that saved the country so much money,
how can it then be presented as if purchase of cars
is a big issue that he cares so much about? Those
who know the antecedent of the Senate President
know that there is no type of vehicle that can excite
him at this stage in his life.

Signed
Yusuph Olaniyonu
Special Adviser (Media and Publicity) to the Senate
President.